Yang Ning said with a young and mature look: "Many times, what the ears hear is far inferior to what the eyes see. Although sometimes what the eyes see may not be true, it is always better than what you hear. We Far away in the capital, I heard about the situation of the feudal city from other people's mouths. Now that I'm here, my own eyes are more accurate than going directly to the old house to hear it."
Gu Qinghan couldn't help but nodded: "Ning'er is right, it's all my fault. If it weren't for you, I would still be kept in the dark." Her beautiful eyes showed anger: "Tomorrow I will ask the chief manager why Jiangling changed. Like this?" Suddenly he thought of something, and his beautiful eyes turned slightly, looking at Yang Ning with a half-smile, and asked: "Ning'er, let me ask you, where did you learn your skills?"
"What's the point?"
"Don't pretend to be confused with me." Gu Qinghan said angrily: "Who taught you the martial arts you practice? It couldn't be Duan Canghai and the others who taught you privately?"
Yang Ning was most afraid of Gu Qinghan asking these questions, so she could only vaguely say: "I come from a martial arts family, and it's no big deal if I know some kung fu."
"But why don't I know?" Gu Qinghan frowned and said, "A few years ago, I asked you to practice martial arts with the guards of the Hou Mansion, but you didn't care. Why do you have martial arts now?"
Yang Ning was thinking about how to give Gu Qinghan a reasonable explanation. After all, women like Gu Qinghan were not easy to deceive. At this moment, Han Yi had come over to invite him to dinner, which was a relief for Yang Ning.
According to the rules of this village, when foreign guests arrive, women are not allowed to sit at the table. Fortunately, Gu Qinghan, dressed in men's clothing, also sat down. Naturally, there is nothing particular about eating in a farmhouse. There is a table full of dishes on the table, and Han Yi even invited the villagers Several prestigious people accompanied him.
At the dinner table, I had to express my gratitude to Yang Ning. The wine I drank was rice wine brewed by the village itself, and it tasted good.
Everyone has seen Yang Ning's ability, and there was naturally a lot of praise at the table. Manager Luo and others were also mentioned. Everyone felt that Manager Luo would never stop.
"Don't worry, Manager Luo won't be arrogant for more than a few days." Yang Ning sneered: "I heard that the Jinyi Hou Mansion has sent people to Jiangling. When the time comes, all we need to do is report what happened here, and we will reap the benefits of Manager Luo."
Han Yi shook his head and said: "Little brother, even if someone from the Jinyihou Mansion really comes down, will they still make decisions for us? Manager Luo is a servant of the Qi family. From now on, he will never do anything to himself because of us poor people. The servants took action."
Gu Qinghan said solemnly: "Han Yi, I have said before that the Qi family is not a family that relies on the strong to bully the weak. Jinyihou will never know what is happening here. If he had known earlier, it would not have developed into what it is now. "
Han Yi felt strange when he saw Gu Qinghan speaking for Jin Yihou several times, and his words were affirmative. At this time, he finally asked: "Why are you so sure? I think Manager Luo said something right. Without the permission of the Qi family, They don’t dare to be unscrupulous here.”
"Han Yi, you are the boss of this village. You pay grain to the Qi family every year, but you deliver it personally?" Gu Qinghan asked.
Han Yi nodded and said: "Exactly. Our fields have a fixed grain production. As long as there are no natural or man-made disasters, we will have a fixed harvest every year." After a pause, he continued: "Every year we will pay the grain dues. Transport it to the Qi family’s old house and check it on a wooden scale.”
"As far as I know, the person in charge of the taxation of the Jiangling fiefdom is the chief steward of the Qi family's old house." Gu Qinghan said: "I heard you say before that Jinyihou now collects 40% as tax from the fiefdom. In the past, it was not always two. Is it possible? This suddenly increased so much, but the chief manager personally told you?"
"General Manager Qi?" Han Yi glanced at Gu Qinghan suspiciously and asked, "Do you know General Manager Qi?" But he was thinking in his heart that this man had defended Jinyi Hou twice and three times, and he was very concerned about Jiangling's taxation and the Qi family's influence. The manager seemed to know them very well. Could it be possible that these two people were related to Jin Yihou
Although the Qi family's old house is managed by the general manager, this is not something everyone knows. For most people, all they have to do is work from sunrise to sunset and pay food on time. If the Qi family is No one was worried about who was in charge. Han Yi was a local leader and had to bring people to deliver food there every year, so he was naturally aware of the existence of the general manager.
Since he suspected that Gu Qinghan had something to do with the Qi family, he became cautious about what he said.
At this moment, a scream was heard from outside: "Found it, found it, found the beast with the chicken in its mouth, and is hiding in the mountain."
The voice was very harsh, but Han Yi stood up suddenly, and several other people also stood up. Han Yi said to Yang Ning: "You two eat first, we have something to do." Without further explanation, he quickly went out, and several other people also After leaving the door, only two old men were left.
Yang Ning heard a noise outside and couldn't help but ask: "What happened? What did you find?"
"A wild beast with a chicken in its mouth." An old man said: "In recent days, chickens in the village are always missing for no reason. There are already more than ten chickens in the village. There are no wild beasts in the mountains behind, and no jackals have been seen. One At first I thought someone was stealing the chicken. A few days ago, I sent someone to keep watch and hid in the dark to see what was going on. That night I finally saw a shadow entering the chicken shed, so a group of people went to catch it. Knowing that the beast was running so fast, no one could see clearly whether it was a jackal or a wild dog." He took a sip of wine before continuing: "The beast is covered in black fur, and no one can catch up no matter how hard they chase. Someone came back and said that The beast can run faster than a rabbit, and some people say that the beast only runs on its two hind legs, like a human being."
"Ah?" Yang Ning was startled, "Only two hind legs to run?" He thought this was strange. As far as he knew, there were not a few animals in nature that could stand on two hind legs, but according to this old man As he said, the beast was extremely fast. Thinking about it, it was extremely rare for an animal to be able to run on two legs like a human being at an extremely fast speed. I thought to myself that it couldn't be an ape.
"That's just eye-opening." Another old man beside him already said: "I have lived for most of my life, but I have never heard of a beast that can run on two legs."
"You can't say for sure." The old man argued before: "Several people saw it, so it's hard for everyone to be dazzled." He then said to Yang Ning: "After a few days, the beast came into the village again. This time everyone I was ready, but the beast still ran away. Fortunately, everyone saw that the beast ran into the back mountain. The young men in the village searched for the back mountain for a whole day, but no trace was found. Such a big mountain, Nor can we search bit by bit.”
Yang Ning asked: "Are there no wild animals in the back mountain?"
"In the early years, there were still some jackals and wild boars, but in times of disaster, people in the village went to the mountains to hunt to fill their stomachs. This mountain is not too small, but it is not too big. The wild animals in the mountain have long been After being beaten to death, I haven’t found any wild animals on the mountain in the past ten years. They are just snakes, insects, rats, and ants.” The old man explained: “So a beast with a chicken in its mouth suddenly came down from the mountain. Naturally, everyone can’t let it go. There aren’t many chickens in the village, and they are all precious. Now that beast has stolen a dozen of them, but I’m really heartbroken. If we don’t get rid of them, I’m afraid I won’t be able to save the few cows and sheep in the village in the future.”
Yang Ning was already very interested at this time and said to Gu Qinghan: "Third... Third brother, you wait here, I will come as soon as I can."
Gu Qinghan was about to stop him, but Yang Ning ran faster than a rabbit and rushed out of the door in a blink of an eye.
At this time, more than 20 young men had gathered at the head of the village and five or six torches were lit. Only one person was heard excitedly saying to Han Yi: "This time the beast can't leave. We have ambushed people at the foot of the mountain and will watch it come in." The beast just thought it would be okay if it entered the mountain. It might as well be watched by us. Now it has found its lair, which is in a cave in the mountain. I have people guarding the entrance of the cave. It must run away. No."
Han Yi said: "Young and strong, follow me up the mountain. That beast is fast and can escape if you are not careful. Let's surround it tightly and see where it goes." With a wave of his hand, he led a group of people around to the back of the village. Going straight to the back mountain, there were some villagers holding hoes and some holding wooden sticks, and they were very aggressive.
Yang Ning only wondered what kind of rare thing that animal was. Curious, she followed the crowd.
A group of people arrived at the foot of the mountain, and the messenger led the way. Although the mountain behind was not high, it was also rugged and covered with dead vines and old trees. The group dispersed and walked for a while. When they reached the middle of the mountain, they listened to the leader who led the way. He said loudly: "It's right there."
When I got closer, I saw three people waiting here. Seeing the villagers coming, one of them said excitedly: "It's in the cave. We're guarding here. That beast never dared to come out."
Yang Ning stepped forward and saw that a rather steep mountain wall was covered by dead vine branches. The middle of the dead vine was pulled open, revealing a dark hole. It was extremely quiet inside and there was no trace of anything. Any sound.
"Is there any other entrance to the cave? You won't run out from other entrances, right?" Han Yi went up and took a look into the entrance of the cave. He couldn't hear a sound and couldn't help but wonder.
"We checked nearby and found that this cave entrance is a dead hole." The person guarding the cave entrance immediately said: "We just threw a few stones into it and heard a cry." He knelt down and picked up a piece. A stone as big as a fist was thrown into the hole, and a strange cry was heard. The man laughed and said, "You heard it, you are inside."
"Find some dry firewood." Han Yi was very experienced. "Light a fire at the entrance of the cave. If the beast inside can't stand the smoke, it will run out."
The strength of the people is great. In just a moment, a lot of dry firewood was piled at the entrance of the cave. Han Yi ordered: "Everyone forms a circle in two circles. The beast is very ferocious. Don't be hurt after coming out, but you can't." Let it run away." He took a torch and lit the pile of dry wood in front of the cave entrance.