At that moment, Colby had alreadye downstairs.


    Upon seeing Colby, Adler pretended like nothing had happened and started whistling nonchntly.


    Sophie turned around and saw that Colby had brought down the ledger. Colby said, "I thought I heard someone talking behind my back just now."


    Adler quickly responded, "No way! I was just singing your praises, saying how much you love your wife and that you''re the perfect example of a modern-day good man!" "Really?"


    "Of course!" Adler replied, trying to look serious.


    Jenna gave Adler a gentle nudge and said, "Alright, alright, cut the nonsense. Let''s see what''s in the ledger."


    Sophie had already spread the ledger open. "ording to our calctions," she said, "Costello Corporation''s imported goods business brings in an annual revenue of three hundred thousand dors, but their expenses are six hundred thousand dors. The Russell family''s cosmetics business brings in one hundred thousand dors a year, with expenses at two hundred thousand dors. The Tredgold family, who are into farming, have an annual revenue of two hundred thousand dors but expenses of four hundred thousand dors. The Aldridge family, on the other hand, has an annual revenue of one million two hundred thousand dors, with zero expenses listed."


    Adler frowned. "So, it seems like our three families are all running at a loss to subsidize the Aldridge family."


    "Exactly," Sophie confirmed. "ording to what the Aldridge elders mentioned, this one million two hundred thousand dors is for maintaining an intelligencework. But this amount seems ridiculously high."


    Saying this, Sophie opened the ledger provided by the Aldridge family. The contents were different from the Russell family''s ledger.


    Sophie said, "It shows here that the


    Aldridge family brought in one million two hundred thousand dors and then quickly had expenses totaling two million four hundred thousand dors, albisted under ''Goods Purchase''."


    Jenna pointed at the entries. "They were buying saltpeter and firearms. Weren''t these contraband back then?"


    "No wonder..." Sophie murmured. "No wonder they needed so much money."


    Adler chimed in, "Those prohibited items weren''t just expensive; they were priceless. Even if you had the money, there was nowhere to buy them, mhad d no idea the Aldrid


    family was so resourceful,


    managing to buy so much saltpeter and imported firearms."


    Jenna added, "No wonder these items were hidden in the family chapel. If they had been discovered during the wartime, it would have meant execution."


    "But what does this have to do with


    the Devonportreasure?" Adler questioned. "Our ancestors couldn''t have left us a chest of controlled firearms, could they? A century has passed, those guns would be nothing but scrap metal now."


    Jenna also looked at Sophie and asked, "Could it be that this ledger has nothing to do with the Devonport treasure, and we''ve been chasing the wrong lead?"


    "Exactly, this ledger isn''t a treasure map!" Adler eximed. "We must have been mistaken; otherwise, the person behind this, being so powerful, would have already found these ledgers and unearthed the treasure, right?" Hearing Adler''s words, something clicked in Sophie''s mind. "What did you just say?" she asked.


    "I, uh, what did I say?" Adler stammered. "I said that the person behind this is so powerful they would have already found the treasure?"N?velDrama.Org owns all ? content.