10. Down in the cellar
Rushuang and Xie were already in front of the house of Mr. Li. "Sister Su, Brother Pei." Rushuang was the first to notice them. The friends entered the house and immediately went to the cellar. Su went down first, the others knew she liked to enter rooms she had to investigate first. Halfway down she stopped to take in the room more closely then the first time they had been here. This time she knew where she had to look. Slowly she stepped down on the floor, kneeling to see the brown stains on the bottom of the stairs. Then she looked at the other smaller stains between the stairs and the closet, noting their shape. Su walked to the closet, once more kneeling down. She heard the others come closer. "Did you find something?" Pei asked. "Look." Su pointed to scratches in the floor. "The owner of the inn told us this closet is the door to the tunnel. These scratches are old, but the dust is not as deep as it is elsewhere." Pei acknowledged her find. Su looked up at Pei and Xie, both understanding what she wanted. They pushed the closet to the side, over the scratches, revealing the opening of the tunnel. "Let's go, see where it ends up." The four lit their torches, Xie leading the way. Su looked around, there was nothing really remarkable. Every few meters there was a holder with a torch that could be lit, but there was no indication they had been lit recently. The tunnel sloped downward a bit more, suddenly it was also a bit more damp. "I think we're under the river now." Pei noted. They continued to walk and after a long time the tunnel widened to be more like a room where shallow stairs with a shallow ramp next to it slowly rose to the ceiling where a trapdoor would lead to a room above ground. Suddenly Xie, who had stepped up the stairs put his finger to his lips a clear sign they had to remain silent. Silently Pei stepped up to Xie, both already grasping their swords. All strained their ears and heard mumblings coming from upstairs. Silently Pei and Xie motioned for Su and Rushuang to go back into the tunnel. They walked back a few steps and then huddled together. "There are people in there." Xie said. "But who? According to the owner of the inn only he and the old lady have a key. I saw the old lady when we walked through the village to get to you. She couldn't have reached the warehouse." Su commented. "Also, it sounded like male voices." Pei added. Xie continued: "We can't go up there now, we don't know who we will find, with how many they are and if they are trained."
"Then let's go back to the house and go to the warehouse over the road. We'll borrow the key of the inn boss." Su suggested. "then we can see who is there." The others nodded and quickly walked back. This time with Su and Rushuang in front. Back in the cellar Su and Rushuang went up while Pei and Xie closed the tunnel again. When Su stepped out of the house she almost bumped into the old lady who stepped back. Watching the face of the old lady Su narrowed her eyes slightly. "Are you back here again?" the old lady asked. "Yes, Rushuang and I came here to see something in the cellar." Su said, slightly louder then needed, hoping Pei would hear and understand. Pei did hear her and this time he was the one signaling to Xie to remain silent. Pei and Xie listened to the conversation, but couldn't fathom why Su wanted to keep their presence silent. "Oh, right. Did you find anything?" the lady asked. "No…Oh we understand you have the key to the warehouse in the forest. Could we borrow it, to check the warehouse?" The old lady looked at the house and then to her own house. "I've lost the key a while ago. I'm sorry, now you can't go to the warehouse." Su smiled a little: "There is no need to worry. We can borrow the key from the inn owner." The lady gave a tiny smile. "That's good then. I'll leave first." Then she walked quickly to her house. Su turned to Rushuang: "Quick, ask Xie and Pei to go back through the tunnel and see if they can hear the people in the warehouse." Su didn't wait for a reply but walked around the house to the back and watched the back of the house of the old lady. After a few moments the lady came out wit a basket with a red cloth in it. Su made sure the lady couldn't see her. The lady hung the large cloth on a line in het back yard. When she was done she went back inside. Creeping back to the front of the house of master Li, Su carefully started to put the different facts together. "Come sister Rushuang, we're going to get the key to the warehouse and then get back here. Pei and Xie should be back then." While they walked back to the inn Rushuang asked Su what had happened. "There was something in the face of the old lady which I found suspicious. She seemed anxious seeing us there, as if she didn't expect us there."
"So what did she do when you were at the back of the house?" Rushuang asked.
"She hung a big red blanket to dry."
"A red blanket?" Rushuang repeated, Su nodded. Rushuang noticed that Su was considering different facts and kept silent. When they reached the inn Su asked for the key and four horses.
After a while Rushuang and Su were heading back to Li house. Su kept an eye on the house next door, in a short moment the old lady came out again. "Are you back again?"
"Yes, we asked our husbands to meet us here. We are going for a ride." Su said.
"Where are your husbands?" the old lady asked, looking around.
"Oh, somewhere in town, they were taking a stroll." Su said quickly and again slightly louder. She saw the old lady looking at the house. "Is there something we can help you with, madam?" Rushuang asked, feeling the slightly odd atmosphere. "No, no need." the old lady quickly responded. The three ladies stood togethers slightly awkwardly. Then to her great relief Su saw Pei and Xie walk towards them. "There they are." Su pointed to the men.
"Well, I'll leave first." The old lady said, bowing slightly. Rushuang and Su bowed. Acting as if nothing strange was going on Pei took the reins of one of the horses from Su and grasped her hand. Xie did the same with Rushuang. They walked to the edge of the town and then mounted the horses. When they were a good distance away from the village, Pei halted his horse. He waited for the others to stop and then looked at Su: "What was that all about?" Su replied with a question of her own: "Did you go back through the tunnel?" Pei nodded: "When we got there we couldn't hear anything. It seems the people in the warehouse had left."
"Hmm, yes. I think they'll still be gone. Let's check." Su started to turn, but Pei grasped the reins of her horse, halting it. "Xiao Su, first tell us what you are thinking. If the people are still there we need to know what we can expect." Pei firmly stated, knowing Su had a tendency to keep her thoughts to herself if she didn't have the whole case figured out yet. "I think the old lady is the one signaling to the people in the warehouse. When Rushuang and I came out of the house she was surprised to see us there, but also anxious. I followed her after Rushuang went to you. The lady then hung a large red blanket outside. Remember we could see the houses clearly when we visited the warehouse earlier?" The others nodded. "I think they will be able to see the red blanket." Rushuang then spoke up: "But why would she do that? And who are in the warehouse?"
"I don't know." Su said. "What do you suspect about the death of master Li?" Pei asked. Su looked at him: "I suspect he was killed because he realized someone was stealing the components to make gunpowder." Xie said: "Gunpowder? Why would anyone steal gunpowder?" Su looked up at Pei, a question clear in her eyes. Pei nodded. "The back guard of Liang Cheng passed Beishun village, before they reached the bridge over the river they blew up. According to the reports they still had the gunpowder they were expected to have after the war, but they would have needed gunpowder to blow up the bridge." Su explained.
"It would make sense to steal it nearby. So we think a few soldiers from the back guard stole from master Li." Pei finished. Rushuang thought for a moment and then said: "Oh, and when master Li made the report to the magistrate, they had to kill him. The magistrate wouldn't continue an investigation if master Li was dead."
"Right." Su responded.
"But why would they come back now? And why would the old lady help them?" Rushuang continued.
"I don't know." Su replied. Pei looked out towards the village. They were in a spot where they couldn't see the back of the houses so they couldn't see if the blanket was still there. "Your Highness." Someone called from a distance. Pei turned his head and saw Liu Yu with a few guardsmen coming towards them. They were right on time!
"Your Highness, I have a message from the dowager empress" Liu bowed after he had dismounted, as did the other guardsmen. Liu gave a scroll to Pei, who didn't immediately read it. He pointed to the house of the old lady in the distance: "See the house there? I want it watched. Don't interfere and make sure the old lady living there doesn't see you. The rest comes with us."
"Yes." Liu turned and pointed to several guards to follow him. Pei motioned for the other guards to come closer. He quickly explained where the warehouse was and what he wanted.