Jinghe Year Sixteen, February thirteenth, Second Quarter of Shen Hour, the small courtyard at the Wei Residence.
Zhang Zai looked grim when he arrived.
"Zihou, have you learned anything lately?" Wei Nisheng asked.
At that, Zhang Zai drew a thin copied register from his sleeve and slapped it onto the desk. "Zi'an, someone has tampered with Stone Record's accounts."
Wei Nisheng took the copied register and turned two pages, his brow creasing slightly. "Did you copy this?"
"No." Zhang Zai shook his head. "My wife's family's caravan brought it from the south. It's a ledger of transactions from Stone Record's Yangzhou branch."
"Look at these entries..." Zhang Zai stepped forward and tapped the paper. "Whoever scraped away the entries knew their craft."
"Had the Li Family's caravan not had old, private ties with Stone Record and obtained a copy of the Original Register, we could never have spotted it without comparing the two."
Wei Nisheng set down the copied register, his gaze darkening. "What about here in the Capital?"
"Beneath the Son of Heaven's feet, the accounts here are even cleaner." Zhang Zai gave a bitter smile.
"Half a month ago, Stone Record Capital Headquarters replaced its manager overnight."
"I asked Shen Yi to lend me the Ministry of Justice's authority and brought the new manager in for questioning. But he replied that the old account books had all burned in a fire."
"Are there any witnesses?"
"There is one," Zhang Zai said. "A broker named He San. He used to pave the way for Stone Record throughout the Capital, carrying messages and delivering gifts."
"But last month, he was imprisoned over a civil case. He's now in Shuntian Prefecture Prison."
"Does anyone else know about him?"
"No. Brokers tend to drift from place to place and work for various