48 Hours a Day

From what Zhang Heng saw, the Binota Mine was undoubtedly in trouble. The mine’s gates were tightly locked, and there was no cart transporting ore. Even the guards who patrolled the mine to prevent nearby farmers from stealing the ore were nowhere to be seen.

Decius then put on an I-told-you-so expression and said, “Cobb has no reason to deceive us. Lying to us will do him no good.”

“Whose side are you on, my friend?” Zhang Heng looked at Decius and asked.

“Hmm?”

“If you still want to finish your work and get those bronze statues delivered on time, you’d better pray that Cobb cheated you.”

“But… If he really didn’t lie to me…” Decius said in a soft voice.

“Then I shall congratulate you on messing up your first job given by His Majesty the Emperor,” Zhang Heng said lightly.

Decius’ expression changed. He knew that Zhang Heng was intimidating him, but he had to admit that what he said was indeed irrefutable.

“If you have figured out your situation. Let’s get to work,” Zhang Heng said.

After that, Zhang Heng climbed the fence and went over to the other side of the mine. Decius hesitated for a while before hurriedly following Zhang Heng.

The two walked down a muddy path, climbed a dirt slope, and finally saw the mine at the back. A group of slave miners entered and exited the mine, carrying out baskets of rocks and sand and dumping them outside the cave. A man that looked like an overseer saw Zhang Heng and Decius. So, he quickly approached them. He seemed to know Decius.

“Why did you come here?” asked the overseer in a surprised tone.

Decius then introduced the two to each other. Now, Zhang Heng knew that the young man in front of him was Cobb’s eldest son, Krasai.

Krasai stretched out his hand and shook hands with Zhang Heng. “I’ve seen your performance before. It was exhilarating. You are indeed the most powerful man I have ever seen!”

Although he sounded polite, there was a trace of cautiousness in his behavior and actions.

“Oh, Zhang Heng is now an adviser to His Majesty the Emperor. He is responsible for the construction of the bronze statue,” Decius added afterward.

“Why didn’t you continue with the statue’s construction? Why are you here in my mine?” While Krasai spoke, another group of slaves came out of the mine. However, they did not return immediately after they dumped the gravel. Instead, a dozen of them just stood there and watched them. They all had burly figures and held iron pickaxes in their hands.

“Uh, we don’t have enough copper ore. So, we have been shutting down for a while now. Now, we are here to take a look at the situation on your side and see how long it will take to resume mining.”

“As you can see, the mine has collapsed, and we are still clearing it. I am not sure how long it will take before we can resume mining. I’ll remember to inform you immediately once the operation resumes.”

“Of course, we believe you. We just wanted to see what we could do to help. Besides, the air in the countryside is fresher.” Decius nodded and looked at Zhang Heng. He was trying to use his eyes to tell Zhang Heng that he should be satisfied with what he was seeing and that they should leave this place right away.

“There is no fresh air in this hell hole. There are only a group of stinky slaves and a pile of broken rocks,” scoffed Krasai. “No one wants to stay here. Once I deal with the problem here, I’m heading to the brothel in the city and reward myself with a good long break.”

“Yes, we can have a drink together. By that time, I guess I should be jobless.” Decius sighed and looked at Zhang Heng.

The latter raised his eyebrows, indicating that he had no more questions. Immediately, Decius sighed in relief.

Krasai and a dozen slaves watched on as Zhang Heng and Decius left the mine.

After walking for a while, Decius could not help but ask, “I didn’t want to mention it at first, but now, you should believe that the mine is really in trouble. Cobb didn’t mean to delay the whole thing.”

“It’s hard to say whether the mine is really in trouble. One thing’s for sure. You are now in big trouble, my friend,” Zhang Heng said.

Decius started to feel worried when he heard what Zhang Heng said. “I know, but this was an accident. I hope you can truthfully reflect the situation here to his majesty.”

“This is not an accident.” Zhang Heng shook his head.

“How is it possible? We saw it with our eyes…” Decius widened his eyes as though he did not believe that Krasai had lied with a straight face.

“All you see are the slaves taking out sand from the mine and Krasai’s men blocking the hole to prevent us from entering. Besides, I heard that the Binota Mine’s miners are not only made up of slaves. There are supposed to be some poor people nearby who asked to work for them. But this time, we only saw slaves, not those poor people.”

“Well. What could it mean?”

“Slaves are the property of the master. It is difficult for them to betray their master. On the other hand, the poor people are not the master’s property. So, if they are thinking of doing something bad, it wouldn’t be wise to let the poor people get involved,” Zhang Heng said, “and…”

“What else?”

“…did you notice that the slaves who were supposed to clear out the mine didn’t have much sweat on them? This shows that they had only just started working. And do you remember the muddy road we passed by before going uphill?”

“Hmm…”

“I don’t know if you paid attention to Krasai’s shoes and trousers. They have wet dirt on them. This shows that he had just walked the path that we walked earlier. This guy came here shortly before us. They are just putting up a show for us. Besides, when I went to look for you just now, I spotted some sneaky men outside your door. If I’m right, those are the people Cobb had sent to keep an eye on you. They saw that I went to look for you. So, they quickly ran to inform the people at the mine. That’s how they prepared everything so quickly.”

After Zhang Heng finished speaking, he turned his head and looked at Decius. He saw that the latter had his mouth wide open, with a look of disbelief on his face.

“Oh my god! Who are you? How could you see so many details that no one else would notice?!”

“You know me. I was a gladiator, but my observation ability happens to be better than most.”

Zhang Heng had no intention of explaining more. As a tenant of 221B Baker Street, such deduction ability was indeed not something worth fussing about.

“Okay, what do we do next?” Decius asked. “I mean, even if we know that the people at the Binota Mine are lying to us about deliberately shutting down the mine, technically speaking, they have not violated the contract, and they are still paying us. I still don’t know why Cobb would do something like this. It does him no good.”

“Of course, Cobb doesn’t have the guts to do something like this. So next, we’ll need to find the mastermind behind him,” Zhang Heng said casually.