Manager Qiu's body trembled, and he smiled awkwardly: "The prince is joking, I have been looking forward to the prince and the third lady returning home day and night." He shook his head and sighed: "I should not say something, if the prince and the third lady never come back, The Hou Mansion will be tortured to pieces by Aunt Qiong."
Yang Ning asked: "Manager Qiu, I heard that you inherited your father's business from your son. Your father was also the general manager of the Hou Mansion."
"Yes, my father and I have been serving in the Marquis Mansion for two generations." Manager Qiu said with emotion: "The old Marquis and the General have been so kind to our father and son, and it will be difficult to repay them in this life."
Yang Ning said with a smile: "Manager Qiu, who do you think is more suitable to inherit the title between Qi Yu and me?"
Manager Qiu was startled and immediately said: "How can Qi Yu compare with the Crown Prince? The Crown Prince is the heir selected by the general. Due to emotions and reasons, it is the Crown Prince who should inherit the title."
"Mr. Qiu, do you mean what you say?" Yang Ning smiled and said, "Let me ask you, do you know Zhao Yuan?"
"Zhao Yuan?" Manager Qiu's body was shaken, "Your Majesty, I... I have never heard of this person."
"Zhao Yuan is the accountant of the old house, and you have been in contact with the old house. You don't even know the accountant of the old house?" Gu Qinghan finally asked coldly.
When Manager Qiu heard this, he patted his head and said, "That's right. When the third lady reminded me, I remembered that there seemed to be such a person. It was my negligence. I only knew that there was Mr. Zhao, and I didn't really know his name. "
"Since I know Zhao Yuan, of course I also know Qi Cheng." Yang Ning said: "Mr. Qiu, I heard that Mr. Qi Hong had a stroke three years ago and was sent to Jingzhou City for recuperation. Now the person in charge of the old house is Mr. Qi Hong. Guan’s son is called Qi Cheng, you don’t know this, right?”
Manager Qiu frowned and said, "Is this happening?" He explained: "Your Majesty, Third Madam, the old manse sends people to send tax money every year. I will personally check it, but I have never heard that the manager had a stroke? "
"If you don't know Qi Cheng, how do you know Zhao Yuan?" Yang Ning said lightly: "Don't you know that Zhao Yuan is hired by Qi Cheng?"
"I really don't know about this. It's just that they sent the tax money and I checked with them. They mentioned that the accounts of the old house are handled by an accountant named Mr. Zhao." Manager Qiu said without changing his expression: " Third Madam, there are many things going on in the Marquis Mansion, and some things have been neglected on the other side of the old house. This is my fault after all, and the Third Madam and the Crown Prince can punish me."
Yang Ning sneered and suddenly shouted: "Manager Qiu, are you still not honest?"
This life was full of anger and shocking. Manager Qiu was frightened and fell to his knees, "Your Majesty, I have been in the mansion for many years. I am loyal and will never lie to anything that Your Majesty said." Turning to Gu Qinghan, he said: " Third Madam, you know how loyal I have been to the Hou Mansion over the years. If I do anything wrong, you can punish me, but...!"
At this moment, Qi Feng came in and said, "Your Majesty, Third Madam, Aunt Qiong and the Young Master are out."
"They left?" Yang Ning said, "Didn't they go to see the Madam?"
Qi Feng said: "No, they didn't bring anything with them. I followed them for a while, and they seemed to be heading towards the Third Old Master."
"It turns out he's looking for help." Yang Ning smiled and said, "That's fine, I was just about to find him. If he came by himself, I wouldn't have to go there myself." He added, "The person he brought here, Be sure to take good care of it.”
Qi Feng was stunned and said hurriedly: "Prince, don't worry, I have...!"
Before Qi Feng could finish speaking, Yang Ning waved for him to retreat. After Qi Feng retreated, Yang Ning asked Manager Qiu: "Manager Qiu, do you know who I asked Qi Feng to take care of?"
"No... I don't know!"
Yang Ning smiled and said slowly: "Have you never met Zhao Yuan? I brought him here this time, so you can get to know him."
Gu Qinghan was startled, but she was extremely smart and understood Yang Ning's thoughts instantly.
Yang Ning asked Qi Feng to take care of an ugly man in a black cloak, but he used this to tell Manager Qiu that he was bringing Zhao Yuan, which was obviously a test of Manager Qiu.
As expected, Manager Qiu's expression changed slightly, but he still managed to smile and said, "The prince has brought Mr. Zhao... Mr. Zhao back?"
"But Zhao Yuan confessed, he knows you." Yang Ning said: "By the way, I forgot to tell you, we encountered something in Jiangling, and my son almost died there. Fortunately, God was kind and allowed me to turn the corner. Do you know Who wants to harm me?"
"No... I don't know." Manager Qiu's eyes twitched, "The Crown Prince is a lucky man, so he won't... Nothing will happen to him."
Yang Ning smiled and said: "You don't know, something strange happened in the old house. The boss is in charge of that son, by the way, that Qi Cheng, turned out to be an imposter, and that Mr. Zhao, that is Zhao Yuan, it turns out he is behind it Envoy. I escaped a disaster and mobilized troops from the Jiangling prefect to kill all these rebels." He leaned forward and said with a smile: "Under severe torture, Zhao Yuan confessed honestly. Master, do you know that they hid 40% of the tax revenue from the feudal city without telling the Hou Mansion, but in order to prevent the Hou Mansion from becoming suspicious, they have paid a lot of tax money to the Hou Mansion in recent years."
Manager Qiu's eyes twitched and he said: "Those people... those people are really hateful, they should... they should all be killed."
"That's not possible. If we kill them all, we won't be able to find out many truths." Yang Ning said with a smile: "They told me that this year's tax money has actually been sent to the capital and given to the Qi family, but not to the Qi family." It’s just the Hou Mansion.”
Mr. Qiu said: "Could it be...could it be...!"
"What?" Yang Ning looked at Manager Qiu.
Manager Qiu said hurriedly: "Nothing, Your Majesty, where is the tax money now?"
"Don't worry, I will get back all the tax money, but it will be stored somewhere else temporarily." Yang Ning said, "By the way, Zhao Yuan also mentioned you...!"
Manager Qiu's expression suddenly changed and he lost his voice: "Your Majesty, don't believe what he says. He is framed by a good person. I didn't... I definitely didn't have any personal contact with him. Your Majesty, this kind of person should be killed with one blow. He must not be allowed to stay."
"Framing a good guy?" Gu Qinghan sneered from the side, "Manager Qiu, you don't even know what he said, so how did you know he would frame you? What do you think he would say?"
Manager Qiu was stunned for a moment and opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Gu Qinghan sighed softly and said: "It turns out it's really you. It turns out that Zhao Yuan's spy in the Hou Mansion is you?" Huo Ran stood up and said angrily: "Qiu Yi, what can Hou Mansion do to you? Apart from me, the Hou Mansion can't do anything to you. It’s all up to you to take care of it. Two generations of you, father and son, have served in the Marquis Mansion. Whether it’s the old Marquis or the general, I can’t do anything wrong to you. Why do you continue to cheat and collude with those people?”
Yang Ning tried some testing. Although Manager Qiu has not yet admitted it, Gu Qinghan has confirmed that Manager Qiu is the traitor who secretly colluded with Zhao Yuan.
This time when they encountered a disaster in Jiangling, there was actually the shadow of Manager Qiu behind it, which made Gu Qinghan very angry.
Manager Qiu said hurriedly: "Third Madam, I... I really didn't contact Zhao Yuan privately. I just thought that those people were so heartless that they would... definitely maliciously slander me."
Yang Ning sighed: "Mr. Qiu, do you have to bring Zhao Yuan in front of you before you confess? In any case, you have been in the Hou Mansion for many years. Not only because of your service to the Hou Mansion for so many years, but also because of your father. For my own sake, I will try to handle this matter as low-key as possible. If you confess now, I promise not to hurt you, but if Zhao Yuan comes to confront you, I will have no choice but to hand you two over to the government."
Manager Qiu lowered his head and remained silent. Yang Ning shook his head and said loudly: "Come here, ask Qi Feng to bring that man over...!"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, wait a minute!" Manager Qiu looked up suddenly, with a look of fear on his face, and said tremblingly: "I... I dare not hide it, actually... In fact, this is all... This is all caused by the three old masters behind my back, I... I have no choice but to ask you to spare me this time."
"Third Old Master?" Gu Qinghan raised his eyes, "Qiu Yi, don't bite randomly here."
Qiu Yi said: "Third madam, it was really the third old master who caused this." He said anxiously: "The third old master wanted Qi Yu to inherit the title, so... so he has been targeting the prince. I do know Zhao Yuan, and I already knew that the man was Qi. Cheng is taking care of the old house, but I really don’t know where they are raising taxes privately.”
"Why did the Third Old Master let Qi Yu replace me?" Yang Ning had already put away his smile and said coldly: "What is the deal behind this?"
"Yes, Qi Yu... Qi Yu and Aunt Qiong promised the Third Old Master that as long as he inherits the title, they will give half of the tax revenue from the fief to the Third Old Master." Qiu Yi said: "The Third Old Master currently only has tax revenue of 500 households. When Qi Yu inherits the title, the number of households will increase to 1,500. In addition, half of the hundreds of hectares of private land in Jiangling will be given to the three old masters."
At this time, Gu Qinghan was breathing rapidly, his chest was heaving, and he said angrily: "You didn't lie?"
"I never dare to lie." Qiu Yi said with a bitter face: "Aunt Qiong also promised to give me two hundred households alone and give me eight hundred acres of land. I... I was blinded by lard for a while, and then I was fooled by them. Pull down the water.”
"These were all discussed after the general passed away?" Gu Qinghan frowned and said: "Otherwise, even if the general is alive, even if you play tricks, Qi Yu will not be able to inherit the title. But you have been in private contact with me at the old house for three years. It can’t be that it was just discussed recently.”
Qiu Yi said: "The third lady Mingjian is the third old man. Three years ago, the Northern Han people came and the general went out to defend the enemy. At that time, the third old man said that the general was covered with wounds. If he cultivated himself for a few years, he might still be able to survive. , but if you go out on the war like that, even if you don't die in battle, you will definitely not live long if you work hard day and night." After a pause, he stopped talking.
"If there is anything else, please tell me quickly."
Qiu Yi hurriedly said: "The third old man also said that although the Qinhuai Army of Chu State is led by a general, it is not monolithic. Although most of the soldiers are in awe of the general,... But it is difficult to guarantee that some of them will be dissatisfied with the general. The general goes out to fight. , there is no return, so from the day the general leaves for the expedition, he is ready to let Qi Yu take the crown prince's place."