A Clash of Gods

Chapter 69: Black hand

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As soon as Dou Lianzhong said this, not only Gu Qinghan but also Yang Ning's face changed slightly.

"Master Dou, are you joking?" Gu Qinghan quickly maintained his composure, "Mr. Dou is the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. As far as I know, your family is rich and wealthy, and it seems that it is not enough to be pawned. And this is written on the ticket. To be clear, the person in charge of the property is called Zhao Xin, what does he have to do with Mr. Dou?"

Dou Lianzhong smiled and said: "To be honest, Zhao Xin is here." He turned around and called: "Brother Zhao, please come here."

Among the few people who followed Dou Lianzhong, one person came forward immediately. He was wearing very ordinary clothes and had an average appearance. He was the kind who would be hard to find in a crowd.

"Shopkeeper Xu, do you still remember me?" Zhao Xin came up to Shopkeeper Xu and said, "I took care of you last time, and Zhao will always remember it in my heart." His accent was not a capital accent, and he seemed to be an outsider.

After all, shopkeeper Xu is also a veteran who has been in the business field for many years. He had lost his position before, but when he saw Zhao Xin following Dou Lianzhong, he immediately realized something and changed his color slightly. It was just a habit of many years, but he still said: "It turns out it is Mr. Zhao."

"It seems that shopkeeper Xu has a good memory." Zhao Xin said with a smile: "The warm reception I received at your shop half a month ago is still fresh in my memory."

Dou Lianzhong said: "Third Madam, this is the owner of the pawn ticket, Zhao Xin. He is from Lanyang, Jingnan, and is somewhat distantly related to my Dou family. I was in urgent need of silver, so I pawned some things at your pawn shop. I have all these pawn tickets in my hand, and I paid seven thousand taels of silver from your account at that time."

Gu Qinghan was smart and realized something, so he asked: "Mr. Zhao is ready to redeem his debt?"

Zhao Xin smiled and said: "I'm going to be a pawn today. I told shopkeeper Xu that I will come over to redeem the pawn in a month at the latest. Now that the matter is done, the money has not been used yet. I am preparing to return home in the past two days. I plan to redeem all my things before returning home. Mr. Dou is hosting a banquet for me tonight to see me off. I happened to be passing by and heard that there was a fire here, so I came here to have a look."

Dou Lianzhong sighed: "Third Madam, it seems that your name may not be able to get anything out now. The things that Xin Zhao currently has are all handed down by his ancestors. Now they have been burned. Things will be troublesome."

"Since we are opening a pawn shop, it is natural for everything to be redeemed." Gu Qinghan said: "Even if the thing is damaged, there is a pawn ticket here, and the full amount of compensation will naturally be paid according to the agreement on the pawn ticket."

"Third Madam, this is not a small sum of money to pay." Dou Lianzhong shook his head and sighed: "According to the agreement above, if everything is burned down, at least fifteen thousand taels of silver will be paid. This... Of course, Jinyihou Shiyi Three thousand, this little money is nothing." He glanced at Yang Ning and said, "Since this place is burned down and you are busy right now, we won't bother you too much. We will visit you again after dawn!"

Manager Qiu, who had been silent all this time, finally said: "Mr. Dou, Mr. Zhao, do you think we can wait a little longer?"

"A little more time?" Dou Lianzhong frowned and asked, "What does this mean? Does your mansion want to default on the compensation?"

Manager Qiu said hurriedly: "That's not what I meant, it's just...!"

"I just feel that Mr. Zhao hasn't had enough fun in Beijing." Yang Ning suddenly interrupted Manager Qiu's words and said with a smile: "Manager Qiu also has good intentions. If Mr. Zhao is really eager to redeem his pledge, then he will go to Jinyihou Mansion tomorrow. , all the compensation owed will be repaid.”

As soon as he spoke, Manager Qiu immediately frowned, and Gu Qinghan also looked slightly surprised.

"Okay, I'm happy for you, the prince." Dou Lianzhong smiled half-heartedly, "Even so, I will definitely pay him a visit tomorrow." He stared at Gu Qinghan, cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Third Madam, let's see you tomorrow." Without saying much, he led Zhao Xin and others walked away.

"Your Majesty, what are you...!" Manager Qiu was about to speak, but saw the bosses still whispering to each other not far away, but did not say anything.

Yang Ning said: "Manager Qiu, please work hard tonight and lead everyone to clean up here. After dawn, send someone to the Yamen of Kyoto Prefecture and ask Kyoto Prefecture to send someone to investigate."

"Investigation?" Manager Qiu was startled.

Yang Ning sneered and said, "Don't you know that someone is setting the fire? Someone needs to come over and investigate."

General Manager Qiu opened his mouth, and Gu Qinghan also said: "General Manager Qiu, do as the prince said, and immediately send someone from Kyoto Prefecture to investigate at dawn." He looked at Duan Canghai and said: "Canghai, you are here to help General Manager Qiu. Aftermath.”

Duan Canghai agreed. Gu Qinghan was already exhausted at this time and got on the carriage. Yang Ning also rushed into the carriage before lowering the curtain and immediately sent people back home.

The carriage in the Marquis Mansion was quite spacious. The two of them were sitting opposite each other, one on the left and the other on the right. The interior of the carriage was quite dark, but Yang Ning had very good eyesight and could vaguely see Gu Qinghan clearly. She said softly: "Sanniang, the matter has come to an end. I'm anxious." It’s useless, we can only take one step at a time.”

Gu Qinghan smiled bitterly and said: "Since the general's death, everything has not gone well. Trouble has come one after another. This fire tonight is even more troublesome." Then he asked: "Ning'er, just now you asked Dou Lianzhong to come tomorrow Go to the Marquis Mansion, we can’t afford that much money at once.”

Yang Ning smiled and said: "Sanniang, do you think things are weird?"

"what did you say?"

"Xin Zhao pawned seven thousand taels of silver at the pawn shop. Isn't this a lot of money?" Yang Ning stared at Gu Qinghan in the dim. Gu Qinghan's eyes were like water, and his beautiful eyes could be seen flowing in the dim.

Gu Qinghan nodded and said: "Seven thousand taels of silver is certainly not a small amount. I also remember Zhao Xin's transaction clearly. At that time, the general's body was secretly being transported back to the capital. The whole family didn't know that the general had died of illness, so the pawnshop happened to come. For this transaction, three thousand taels of silver were transferred from the government."

Yang Ning's eyes were sharp and he asked: "After this deal is completed, will... my father's body be returned to the capital?"

Gu Qinghan sighed: "Exactly, I regretted it at that time. If I had known that the general would have a funeral after his death, I shouldn't have done this deal. But since I have signed the contract, I can't regret it."

Yang Ning sneered and said: "Seven thousand taels of silver is not a small amount. Zhao Xin hurriedly pawned it before his father. As soon as the fire started, he came to redeem it. Isn't it strange?"

"It's really strange." Gu Qinghan frowned and said, "And that Dou Lianzhong suddenly popped up, which is very abnormal."

Yang Ning pondered for a moment, then said: "Sanniang just said that things were not going well in the Hou Mansion after my father passed away. Does it mean that Jiang Ling's money could not be delivered in time, and then there was a fire inexplicably, and now Zhao Xin is redeemed?"

"Of course you were stabbed in Zhongling Villa." Gu Qinghan said softly.

Yang Ning said softly: "Sanniang, have you ever felt that these things did not happen independently, but were all related to each other?"

"Implicated?" Gu Qinghan was startled, "Ning'er, why do you say that?"

Yang Ning said: "I feel like there is a dark hand behind the scenes, which is ruthlessly attacking our Jinyihou Mansion."

"Black Hand?"

Yang Ning leaned forward slightly, approached Gu Qinghan, and whispered: "After the fire was extinguished, I went in to check. What do you think I found?"

"What?"

"In the burned warehouse, there seemed to be oil stains on the ground." Yang Ning said softly.

Gu Qinghan's delicate body trembled, and she reached out to hold Yang Ning's wrist, "Ning'er, can you see clearly? Are you saying that the pawnshop found oil traces?"

Yang Ning nodded and said: "I checked carefully and found that there were not many oil stains. I found two or three places. I smelled it carefully. If I guessed correctly, the smell is the most flammable black oil. This kind of oil meets The fire started immediately. According to them, after the warehouse burned down, the fire spread very quickly, and the warehouse was engulfed in flames in just a moment. This should be caused by black oil."

Gu Qinghan frowned, but at this time he calmed down, thought for a while, and then said: "So, this fire must have been carefully designed by someone."

"I'm afraid that's the case." Yang Ning said: "And it is likely to be related to Dou Lianzhong. Even if this person is not responsible, he must be involved."

"If it is really Dou Lianzhong who is behind this, and they burned down the pawn shop, is it just for the compensation of more than 10,000 taels of silver?" Gu Qinghan frowned and said, "I'm afraid it won't be that simple."

"Sanniang, is Dou Lianzhong's father Dou Kui the Minister of Household Affairs?" Yang Ning asked, "Does this person have any grudge against our Jinyihou Mansion?"

Gu Qinghan nodded and said: "Dou Kui was promoted to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue six years ago. In fact, in the early years, when he was just the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, he had some friendship with the general. When the general went on an expedition, the money and food were provided by the Ministry of Revenue. Dou Kui It seems that he personally escorted grain and grass to the front line several times, so he had a good relationship with the general. He was later promoted to Minister of Household Affairs, and the general seemed to speak for him in front of the Holy Lord."

"So, father still has some kindness to the Dou family?"

"Originally, the two families were in peace, but the year before last the general suddenly made a scandal to the court. Then Dou Kui was reprimanded by the emperor and fined him for half a year. I heard that it was because the food and grass arrived several days late. The general had an upright temperament, and the emperor ordered Zhezi joined Dou Kui." Gu Qinghan said quietly: "Since then, the two families have developed some enmity, but Dou Kui still respects the general in terms of face."

"I see." Yang Ning nodded thoughtfully, "In this case, the Dou family must be involved in this matter. This fire is not simple."

"But there is no evidence, so we can't do anything to them." Gu Qinghan frowned and said: "Tomorrow Dou Lianzhong will definitely lead Zhao Xin to the mansion, not to mention fifteen thousand taels of silver, even five thousand taels of silver, we can't get it at the moment come out."

Yang Ning chuckled and said, "Don't worry, Sanniang. Since Dou Lianzhong is involved in this matter, I will definitely let him shoot himself in the foot." His expression turned grim and he said coldly: "They want to add insult to injury by any means necessary. I Let’s see who can have the last laugh.”

Seeing Yang Ning's confidence, Gu Qinghan was a little happy, but more worried. She really didn't know how Yang Ning would cope with Zhao Xin's compensation of more than 10,000 taels.