“How long have you been working at the Binota Mine?”
Zhang Heng then beckoned the waiter to bring two more glasses of wine to the miners.
“I have been working at the Binota Mine for five years. However, I did change jobs for two years, in between. I loaded and unloaded goods at the wharf. The work there was a little easier than in the mine, but the income was also lesser. Later, I had a fourth daughter and needed more money. So I went back to the mine,” the older miner explained. After that, he pointed at the younger miner beside him.
“He is my nephew, and he came to work with me in the mines this year. He is a good boy, never complains about anything. All he does is work hard.”
“Well, when did you stop work working this time?” Zhang Heng then asked.
“It was about half a month ago,” the old miner recalled.
“16 days ago, to be precise,” his nephew added, “We went to the mine as usual in the morning, but the supervisor told us that there was an accident and the mine had collapsed. We couldn’t start work until they cleaned the place up. So, everyone was asked to go home and wait for the news.”
“Did you check the mine out after the incident?”
The old miner and his nephew looked at each other.
“We said we could help with the clean-up. After all, our wages are paid on a daily basis. And we have to feed our families. It’s torture not knowing when we can resume work. We hope we can continue as soon as possible, but the supervisor did not allow us to go into the mine. Even after we told him that we would do it for him for free, he insisted that the slaves could handle this matter. And he asked him not to worry about it. But now… we have been out of work for two weeks. As of now, we can only work random jobs and continue to support our families. If it weren’t for the gold coins you gave us, we were ready to borrow money from the loan shark.”
“Did anything unusual happen before you stopped working? Had anyone you’ve never seen before come to the mine?” Zhang Heng leaned back, switching to a more comfortable posture.
“Cobb’s eldest son, Krasai. He doesn’t like the mine and us, but he suddenly went to inspect the mine a few days before the accident. We saw him chatting with the supervisor for a long time, and he avoided all the other people. And a day before the mine collapsed, nothing happened in the tunnel. Also, it didn’t rain that night. That was why so everyone was so surprised when the mine collapsed the next day,” the old miner went on saying.
“What else? Is there anything else worth noting?”
Until now, what the old miner said proved that the collapse of the mine might be intentional. However, they provided no clues related to the mastermind behind this incident. Since this was the case, Zhang Heng had to pay Krasai or Cobb a visit again.
The old miner shook his head. Nonetheless, Zhang Heng noticed a hesitant look on the young miner’s face.
“If you feel that the money is not enough, I can pay you three more gold coins,” Zhang Heng added.
“Oh no, you misunderstand. The two gold coins are more than enough, and we can’t ask for more. I haven’t said this to anyone before because I didn’t want to cause trouble to the person who told me about this,” the young miner said.
“Hmm?”
“I have a friend. She is a servant of the Cobb family…”
The young miner hesitated.
“A slave?”
“Yes, she had actually heard about something a few days before we were forced to stop working. She told me about it, but I didn’t tell anyone else. And I told her not to breathe a word about it anymore.”
“Don’t worry. You have my word. We won’t disclose this information to others, right?” Zhang Heng looked at Decius, who immediately nodded his head with a solemn look.
“I keep my mouth shut all the time, and I never talk nonsense.”
“Well, I believe you.” The young miner finally made up his mind and said, “One week before the incident, someone visited Cobb late at night. The two stayed in the study room for almost the entire night, plotting something. In the midst of it, he called the slave to pour them more water. It was at that time; my friend heard Cobb say that this was simply too dangerous a matter. And they asked the mysterious person to pay them more. The visitor then told them that all they needed to do was delay the casting of those bronze statues. After that, my friend left the study room.”
“Did your friend see the visitor’s face?” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, she told me. It was the kind of face that she could never forget. She said that there was a red birthmark on the left of the man’s face, like a ball of flame.”
“Oh, this narrows the scope,” replied Zhang Heng. “There are not too many people in Rome with red birthmarks on their faces. And there are not too many people who dare to delay the casting of the bronze statues either. I believe it shouldn’t be too difficult to find out who the person is.”
After that, he took out two more gold coins and threw them to the young miner. “You don’t have to reject the reward. You did me a great favor. You deserve it. I have nothing else to ask. You can go now.”
The young miner collected the money, thanked Zhang Heng again, and left the tavern with his uncle.
On the other side, Decius showed a nervous look and an awkward smile. He put down the wine glass in his hand and asked Zhang Heng, “Did we just… get involved in something serious?”
“What do you think?” Zhang Heng asked rhetorically.
“I’m just a nobody. Why do such things happen to me?” Decius complained bitterly, “Why would anyone mess with the bronze statues? By delaying their casting, what can the person gain other than destroying my life? And we are talking about the bronze statue of His Majesty the Emperor. Who would dare to mess with the emperor?”
Zhang Heng was noncommittal. “It’s too late now to talk about such things. If you don’t want to take the blame, you can join me and solve this problem. You heard what the young man said, right? I think you should know some of the people in the Senate. Do you know anyone with a red birthmark on his face?”
“I don’t think there’s anyone in the Senate with a red birthmark on his face… As for the senators’ subordinates,” Decius frowned. “With my identity, the number of senators I can meet is very limited. But I have a friend who is a rainmaker. He works with the approval or rejection of a certain proposal. In other words, he has seen everyone’s face. If there’s someone with a red birthmark on his face, my friend should know who he works for.”
“Very good, let’s visit your friend next.” Zhang Heng said. After finishing the wine in the glass, he put down six copper coins to pay for the drink.
And Decius was relieved to hear that he could finally leave the southeast area. But at the same time, he also felt a little strange. That was because no one had come to bother them since they arrived. Was this still the same southeast city where someone snatched Fabino’s engagement ring and beat him up after that?
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