Sherlock's father Sasarien is not only the president of the Flash Gold Chamber of Commerce, but also the leader of the family business. If the president is gone, the chamber of commerce can choose again, but the pillars of the trading club at home are gone, which is likely to be a disaster.

Sherlock knew that since Sassarian was suddenly captured, most of the people under his business were anxious. At this time, what they needed most was not a maverick successor, but a steady leader, giving them enough confidence to believe that their successors could stabilize the situation.

So Sherlock dressed like this, looking very much like Sassarian, although he hated this look before.

The Minister of Finance is known as the prime minister of finance and can be said to be one of the most powerful officials in the entire Navia Kingdom. He wants to seize a local chamber of commerce, which is not something that several local merchants can compete with.

In order to make the members of the Flash Gold Chamber of Commerce surrender, Arcadio first directed the Red Beard Pirates to attack the chamber of commerce ships in the country, and colluded with Navy Colonel Roy to increase the difficulty for the chamber of commerce to leave the port. He also replaced the main officials of the Chamber of Commerce's headquarters and arranged for his own confidants.

In order to intimidate the members of the Chamber of Commerce, Arcadio also chose to stand out and declare his power.

The trading company in Sherlock's family is this one, so until now, Sherlock still has not been able to rescue his father. Despite his efforts to maintain the business, the trading company's business has become increasingly sluggish and has been made difficult by local officials. The members of the chamber of commerce dare not help, for fear of angering Arcadio, who is almost covered in the kingdom.

Perhaps in his heart, Sherlock imitating his father might have some hope to arouse the sympathy of the outside world, but he is so strong that he is unwilling to admit it.

At night, in the villa.

After dealing with the local officials who came to investigate again, Sherlock lies in bed toss and turns and can't sleep. He is worried, worried that his father Sassarian's safety and the family business that has been accumulated and managed for several generations will be defeated in his hands.

It was not until this entangled situation that he realized how difficult it was for his father Sasarien to always look low in front of him. During this period, he had been servile to officials who were looking for various reasons to find faults. This was not a good feeling.

He also had a moment of resentment from William's proposed smuggling business that was involved in his family, but he was not a fool who would only blame others. He knew that the smuggling business was nodded and he could not blame others.

After tossing and turning on the bed, and still unable to fall asleep after a long time of struggle, Sherlock finally sighed dejectedly, sat up from the bed, went to the study room to decide to check the account book again.

Most of the servants in the villa had fallen asleep. Sherlock did not alarm anyone and came to the study alone. There were traces of his father Sasarien everywhere. Through the moonlight outside the window, Sherlock seemed to see Sasarien sitting behind the desk as usual while drinking while flipping through the account book.

Sherlock's eyes were a little sour, and the hearts of the house were already floating. He didn't want the servant to see his loss of composure, so he rubbed his eyes, picked up a bottle of red wine and wine glass, pushed open the secret door hidden into a bookshelves, and walked into a narrow and cramped secret room.

This secret room was established by Sasarian before, and it specializes in the important books and some valuables. There is only a table, chair and several safes in the room.

Sherlock lit up the candles in the secret room, closed the secret door, and took out the account book from the safe. The candle's flames were a little shady, causing half of Sherlock's face to be cast in the shadows, but he didn't care, but just slowly reviewed it with the red wine.

I don't know how long it took, Sherlock suddenly heard a vague movement outside the door. He frowned slightly, and he was secretly angry, thinking that some bold servant was watching the house was ruined, and he had no idea that he should have, and ran to the study room to steal things.

He walked to the door and listened for a moment. What came into his ears was the voices of a man and a woman. Sherlock's heart was shocked. The voices of these two people were very familiar to him. They turned out to be his stepmother and local tax officer.

Sherlock's biological mother died a few years ago. Sasarien married a young and beautiful woman two years later, which is one of the reasons why the father and son are not very harmonious.

The two in the study seemed to be worried about being discovered when they were talking, so they deliberately lowered their voices. However, because they were far away from the door of the study, they were very close to the bookshelf where the secret door was located. Sherlock, who was lying behind the door, could hear the conversation between the two clearly.

The tax officer passed through the secret door with a hoarse voice: "The Earl is a noble person, and he is not a person who can sit idly by someone who may be involved in his safety. Sherlock, I think he is not a pampered bag, and he needs to be dealt with quickly. If he really takes risks, it is also a threat. Even if he cannot endanger the Earl, it will be my dereliction of duty and the impact is not good."

A somewhat lazy female voice then said, "Sherlock is now determined to maintain the family business and should not take risks."

The tax officer said: "I'm not afraid of ten thousand, but I'm afraid of it. Besides, it doesn't matter whether he will really take risks. Just make the Earl think that he will take risks. I can deal with him and make a good impression in the Earl's heart. What's more, if you don't deal with him, how can you accept this family business legitimately? I received the news that Sassarian is dead. As long as you get rid of Sherlock, you are the only candidate who can inherit the property."

The tax officer spoke afterwards and his tone became a little frivolous.

The lazy woman smiled: "You are so nice to me, how can you repay you?"

The two of them made a few jokes, and then there was a sound of undressing behind the door. The tax officer said boldly: "When the time comes, those who pursue you, a pretty widow, may be able to line up all over the street, but don't forget my goodness."

The stepmother said "um" softly and stopped answering.

Sherlock behind the door clenched his teeth, his face was ferocious, his eyes were covered with bloodshot, and he could hardly help push the door out, exposing the conspiracy between the dog and the woman as soon as possible.

But the remaining reason stopped him. Sherlock walked to the table, picked up the red wine on the table and drank it all, then opened a safe, where two pistols were placed.

The handle of the pistol is made of ivory and is engraved with complex patterns, which looks like artworks than weapons. This is indeed a work of art and was bought and collected by Sasarien, but Sherlock knew they could also be used to kill people.

The candles in the secret room gradually faded as time passed, and the darkness dispelled by the light expanded, and most of Sherlock's figure was gradually shrouded in shadow.

In the dim and secret room, he took out his pistol, matched bullets and induced medicine, sat on a chair, and shot two old-style pistols.

———
Chapter completed!