Fake Qi Cheng said: "I don't know...!" Seeing Yang Ning's eyes filled with murderous intent, he said anxiously: "I really don't know, I just followed the judge's instructions, and I don't know why I gave the tax money to you, the third old man of the Qi family. reason."
"Since you control the old house, why have you sent all the tax money there in the past few years?" Yang Ning asked: "Is it to stabilize the Hou Mansion?"
Fake Qicheng said: "If the tax money is not delivered as scheduled, you will definitely check it out, and all our plans will be in vain. Only if you are stable, can we take action in Jiangling." After a pause, he said: " After we took control of the Qi family's old house, we increased the taxes on the fief by 20%, and the extra 20% went into Zhao Yuan's pocket."
"Three years of tax payment, no less. What did he use it for?"
Fake Qicheng was about to say that he didn't know, but he felt the cold blade around his neck tightened again, so he could only say: "I really don't know where the money was used, but... But as far as I know, it should all be shipped to Bashu."
"Transported to Bashu?" Yang Ning was startled.
Fake Qicheng said: "Yes, I am only responsible for controlling the Qi family's old house and have no contact with other people. All matters are planned by the judge. He should still have contacts in Bashu. The money is secretly transported to Bashu every year. But where exactly it is shipped to, I... I don't know."
"So, the purpose of controlling the Qi family's old house is for the extra 20% of taxes?" Yang Ning sneered: "But as far as I know, the matter is not that simple. You still have contact with Qi Yu privately. You even want to replace me with Qi Yu, so what can you say?"
Fake Qicheng said with a bitter face: "I really don't know what the judge wants to do. He only said to set up a trap for you to make peace with... and the third lady in private. We will take the opportunity to catch the traitor and use this matter to control you. In the end Why you did this, I really don’t know. As for Qi Yu, I have never heard of his name."
Yang Ning observed the words and expressions, knowing that the fake Qi Cheng was probably not lying, and asked: "Who is that Jiuyou Ksitigarbha? Have you seen him?"
Fake Qicheng shook his head and said: "No, I only know that Ksitigarbha has great magical powers, but I have never seen it."
Yang Ning sneered: "You have never seen Ksitigarbha, how do you know that he has great powers? I don't think the judge is that good. How can he make you give up in just a few words? Look, you are also a seven-foot-tall man. , how could he become a lackey so easily."
"I have seen supernatural powers with my own eyes." Fake Qicheng immediately said decisively: "Apart from the judge, I have seen Ksitigarbha's envoy. He... He is invulnerable to weapons and bullets, and is invulnerable to fire. I saw with my own eyes that his hands were roasted by the fire, but he was unharmed. , that’s absolutely true.”
Yang Ning frowned and said, "Have you ever seen the Ksitigarbha messenger?"
Fake Qicheng said: "Yes, the Ksitigarbha envoy also said that he will leave all your chickens and dogs behind...!"
"Such a big tone. Does Ksitigarbha have a grudge against Jinyihou?" Yang Ning sneered: "Returning chickens and dogs without leaving any room? If you are really capable, why are you so sneaky?"
Fake Qicheng said: "I have said everything I should say, you... you said you would spare my life."
Yang Ning said: "If you think about it again, is there anything you forgot to say?"
"No, I don't know anything else." Fake Qicheng said.
Yang Ning smiled faintly and said: "Since you don't know anything, you are just a waste. Why should you keep a waste?" With a strong hand, the cold blade passed by and cut off the fake Qi Cheng's throat.
Qi Feng was surprised. He didn't expect the prince to kill someone so neatly.
Yang Ning had no intention of letting him live from the beginning. These people set up a trap and almost killed himself and even killed Gu Qinghan. Yang Ning would never be soft on such people.
He stood up and put away the knife, and ordered: "Get rid of the body. It turns out that those people in the old house were just deceived, so let them go. By the way, those thugs probably don't know the inside story either. Give them a lesson and let them go." Get out of here."
Yang Ning returned to the hall. Gu Wenzheng was sitting in the hall with his big horse and golden sword. He looked disappointed. When he saw Yang Ning, he sighed: "Your Majesty, we are still late."
Yang Ning knew what he meant and said with a smile: "Uncle, there will be another chance in the future, but my uncle leads the army well. If Master Mao hadn't taken the lead, if we followed your arrangement tonight, it would have been overwhelming."
Gu Wenwen raised his hand to stroke his beard, his expression softened slightly, and he said with a smile: "It takes a thousand days to raise an army, but it takes only a short time to use it. These people under me are all capable of conquering and fighting. I am not exaggerating. If Master Mao's soldiers hadn't arrived first, I would definitely have to fight tonight." Kill all those thieves and bandits. By the way, Your Majesty, the general has passed away, and the title of Marquis of Jinyi will naturally be inherited by you. You are a member of the Qi family, and you will rarely go into battle to kill the enemy in the future. If your uncle is needed, send him If I personally come to spread the word, these elite men of mine will go with me to help out."
"Then thank you uncle first." Yang Ning cupped his hands, looked at Mao Wenshou beside him, and said, "Master Mao, there is one more thing I want to entrust to you."
"Your Majesty, just ask."
Yang Ning said: "Such a big thing happened in the old house this time, but the Hou Mansion knew nothing about it and allowed the thieves to stay here...!"
Before he could finish speaking, Mao Wenshou had already blamed himself: "It's because my subordinates didn't take good care of me."
"It has nothing to do with Mr. Mao." Yang Ning waved his hand and said: "But I will ask Mr. Mao to take care of him from time to time. In addition, according to the regulations of the old marquis, the tax of the feudal city cannot exceed 20% at any time. I should have summoned the feudal lord to I will explain it to everyone in the village, but time seems to be in a hurry, we have to rush back to the capital as soon as possible, so I would like to ask Mr. Mao to send someone to convey this matter to each village."
"Is the Crown Prince going to return to the capital now?" Mao Wenshou said hurriedly: "Don't worry Crown Prince, I will arrange this immediately."
It was already midnight, and everyone had rested in the old house for the night. Yang Ning returned to his room, took out the dozens of drawing papers with sword moves that were placed under the bed, and put them away without anyone touching them. Then he took it with him. He knew that Gu Qinghan must have been worried, so he didn't waste any time early the next morning. At dawn, he and Gu Wenwen and his party rushed back to Qinghe City.
At the old house, although Mao Wenshou led his troops to withdraw, he still left a few people to guard him temporarily.
When we arrived at Gu Mansion in Qinghe City, it was almost noon. Gu Wenwen felt a little depressed after all his big moves ended up being useless.
After entering the Gu Mansion, Yang Ning saw the ugly man in black cloak sitting under the wall beside the main hall door, lazily basking in the sun, looking quite leisurely.
Gu Wenwen was afraid that Yang Ning would misunderstand, so he explained from the side: "Your Majesty, this man is my sister's savior, so I have been entertaining him with good food and drinks these past few days, and I have also prepared a private room for him, but this man is very strange. I don’t sleep in my room, I like to sleep under the wall, and sometimes I hang out in the yard in the middle of the night, I’m really afraid of people.”
Yang Ning smiled and said: "Uncle, don't be afraid. This man has no bad intentions. As long as he has enough food and drink, nothing will happen to him."
"This man has a big appetite. He can eat three whole chickens in one meal and still not be full." Gu Wenwen asked, "Your Majesty, who is this man?"
"Sanniang didn't tell you?" Yang Ning asked curiously.
Gu Wenwen sighed: "After she came back, she just asked me to send someone to inquire about you. You are the only one who worries about you day and night. She didn't mention the origin of this weirdo, so I couldn't ask more questions."
"Uncle, look at the black cloak he is wearing. Is it a bearskin?"
Gu Wenwen nodded and said: "This is unmistakable. It must be made of black bear fur. I have three tiger skin cloaks in my house, and several fox skin cloaks, but not a bears skin cloak. This blind bear is the most difficult to catch. And even if you really kill a black bear, you may not be able to make a cloak."
"Are you afraid of leaving wounds?"
Gu Wenwen nodded and said: "Exactly, whether it is a knife wound or an arrow wound, once there is a wound on the body, it is difficult to make a large cloak. Even if the best craftsman repairs the gap, it will not be able to keep it intact. Can subdue it It's not easy to blind a bear without leaving any wounds on it." He raised his finger and pointed at the big cloak on the big man in black cloak, "Although the black hair of his big cloak has fallen off, I can see that the bear skin inside is intact."
"Uncle, you are well-informed and one of the best in Jiangling...!" Yang Ning said slowly, Gu Wenwen raised his chest slightly, and his face glowed with a faint light. It was obvious that Yang Ning's words meant a lot to him. Appetite, Yang Ning continued: "Do you think this person may be from Jiangling? Look at the bearskin cloak on his body. Can you find clues through this cloak?"
Gu Wenwen said: "When I first saw him, I was very surprised. He could have such a bearskin cloak. He was born either rich or noble. He must not be from an ordinary family. Logically speaking, Jiangling's wealthy family, our Gu family is also We have all interacted with each other, and even if we don’t have a close friendship, he will still look familiar. This person should be a few years older than me, and he is of the same generation as me. If he is a Jiangling gentry, there is no way I wouldn’t recognize him."
"Uncle is saying that this person is probably not from Jiangling?"
Gu Wenwen was very sure: "I'm not sure whether he is from Jiangling, but he is definitely not from a gentry family. If he is from Jiangling, this cloak is probably stolen. But the whole of Jiangling, as far as I know As far as I know, there are no more than three such cloaks, and I know them all. They all regard this kind of cloak as a treasure, and they usually don’t wear it easily. It is not easy to steal it, unless the person can fly over walls and walls."
Yang Ning originally hoped to use Gu Wenwen's knowledge to find out the origin of the ugly man in the black cloak, but now it seems that he can't, and he is full of doubts about the origin of the big man in the black cloak.
The big man in the black cloak was obviously full of food and wine, lazily basking in the sun. Although he saw Yang Ning, he just smiled at Yang Ning and stopped asking Yang Ning for food.
"Your Majesty, the third lady invites you to come over." Yang Ning was deep in thought when a voice came from the side. It was a maid from the Gu Mansion.
When Yang Ning and his party returned to the Gu Mansion, someone naturally told Gu Qinghan. Yang Ning thought that Gu Qinghan was worried about him day and night these days, and felt grateful and said: "Take me to see the third lady!"