Qi Ning put the secret letter into his arms and saw that there were several letters underneath. He opened them and scanned them one by one. However, they were all oaths of allegiance to the King of Huainan from some officials. Qin Ning knew that he did not have time to read carefully here. He put all the letters into his arms and put the empty box back into its place.
He checked inside again, but found nothing else. He was a little disappointed. However, there were many treasures and a secret letter from King Shu Li Hongxin, which was a great gain.
Returning the same way, when they reached the entrance of the cave, they discovered that there were steps for climbing up on the wall. They easily climbed up from the ground. Dou Kui had been standing by the entrance of the cave and hurriedly stretched out his hand to pull Qining out. At this moment, he heard There were footsteps outside, and someone said: "Search here carefully, don't miss a place."
Qi Ning immediately winked at Dou Kui. Dou Kui understood. He quickly reached the door and opened it. There were soldiers coming up to kick the door. When he saw Dou Kui, they were all startled. Dou Kui had his hands behind his back. , coughed and said: "This is the Buddhist hall. I checked it and found nothing special. The Buddhist hall is a pure place, don't offend it."
After hearing this, everyone hurriedly bowed their hands and retreated in a hurry.
Dou Kui then closed the door and came back, saying in a low voice: "Master Marquis, they are all gone, down here...?"
"What Mr. Dou said is true." Qi Ning naturally would not tell anyone about the secret letter, and sighed: "All the real treasures of the Huainan Prince's Palace are hidden down here. There is a secret room down there, which should be the treasure of the Huainan Prince. There are quite a lot of top-quality treasures here, Master Dou, do you want to go down and have a look?"
Dou Kui hurriedly smiled and said: "Master Hou, just take a look." He lowered his voice and said: "Master Hou, since the treasure room is here, no more people can come here. I am worried that the old guy Sima Lan is also thinking about it. The treasures from the Huainan Prince's Palace might get involved, but the treasures in this treasure room should be moved as much as possible."
"Do you have any good ideas, Master Dou?" Qi Ning asked with a smile. As he spoke, he walked to the Buddhist niche, stretched out his hand and twisted the lotus pedestal to restore it to its original state. The large stone slab then closed automatically without any flaws.
Dou Kui thought for a while and then said: "Master Marquis, these treasures are extraordinary. We cannot let others see them."
"That's what I mean too." Qi Ning said with a smile: "If people come to this Buddhist hall to take away the treasures later, there will be many people with mixed eyes, and it will inevitably spread. It is best to transport this batch of treasures out without anyone noticing. "After thinking for a moment, he said: "Master Dou, can you come up with any good ideas?"
Dou Kui thought for a while, then lowered his voice and said: "The property outside can be packed and transported away in a truck. I have a way to deliver the property belonging to the Marquis to you. However, once the treasures in the treasure room enter the household department, Everyone knows that it is the best treasure that King Huainan has collected for many years. It is not easy to deal with it. If Sima Lan sends someone to keep an eye on it secretly, it will be even worse." After thinking for a while, he said softly: "Master Hou, This batch of treasures can only be smuggled out."
"Smuggling?"
Dou Kui nodded and said: "After confiscating the palace today, all other items were transported away, making people think that Wang Fu had confiscated everything. Then we secretly took away these treasures and secretly transported them to Jinyihou Mansion."
Qi Ning also pondered for a moment before saying, "Are you sure?"
"I have a plan." Dou Kui said in a low voice: "Master Hou, tomorrow is the day of the emperor's wedding. Naturally, all the officials in the court will come to the palace to celebrate, and the eldest lady of the Sima family will also enter the palace to celebrate. Concubine, Sima Lan and his son will naturally attach great importance to it, at least they will not pay attention to it tomorrow. According to the usual practice, the banquet in the palace will be very late, and the subordinates will leave first when the time comes. Transport it away, I wonder what the Marquis wants?"
Qining smiled and said: "This is a good idea."
"But the trouble is the soldiers of the Yulin camp." Dou Kui frowned and said, "I am worried that in order to protect the safety of the crown prince, the emperor may let Chi Fengdian stay here with some Yulin soldiers. Chi Fengdian, I The official is really a little unclear, but I always feel that he will not be of the same mind as us, so we should be more careful about this person."
Qi Ning knew very well that Chi Fengdian was crucial in the incident of the imperial mausoleum.
King Huainan dared to launch a rebellion in the imperial mausoleum. In the final analysis, one of the important reasons was Chi Fengdian. King Huainan obviously thought that Chi Fengdian would obey him. At that time, as long as Chi Fengdian stood on the side of King Huainan, the imperial mausoleum The change is likely to be successful. At least Sima Lan and his son can be quickly controlled at that time. Even if the Black Knife Battalion arrives later, it will be too late.
But Chi Fengdian was beyond King Huainan's expectation. At the most critical moment, he was not used by King Huainan. Because of this, King Huainan's fate was already doomed.
The King of Huainan was able to place his treasure on Chi Fengdian because he must have made an agreement beforehand. In order to prevent Chi Fengdian from being restrained, the King of Huainan went to great lengths to transfer Wu Dalin from the Yulin Camp. This shows that he has great feelings for Chi Fengdian. However, Chi Fengdian obviously violated the previous agreement, which made King Huainan despair.
Qi Ning still can't tell whether Chi Fengdian did not end up with King Huainan because Chi Fengdian was really loyal to Longtai Chidan, or because of the Sima family.
If it's the former, that's fine. If Chi Fengdian is secretly connected with the Sima family, things will be much more serious.
Chi Fengdian betrayed King Huainan, which naturally made the people under King Huainan hate him deeply. It was only natural for Dou Kui to hold a grudge against Chi Fengdian and be wary of him.
Qi Ning thought for a moment and then said: "You don't have to worry about this. I will let my people replace the Yulin camp to guard the palace, so that it will be easier for you."
Dou Kui raised his eyebrows with joy and said with a smile, "If that's true, that would be great."
Qi Ning put his hands behind his back, stared into Dou Kui's eyes, and lowered his voice: "Master Dou, with all due respect, if you send these treasures to Duke Zhen, I wonder if Duke Zhen will regard you as a confidant?"
Dou Kui was stunned for a moment, then turned pale with fright, and knelt down on the ground, "Master Hou, Xianguan... How could Xianguan do this? If... if Marquis hadn't argued hard in the imperial mausoleum, Xianguan would be afraid now. Already in prison, Xianguan... Xianguan is extremely grateful to the Marquis for his kindness. I'm afraid I won't be able to repay him even if I work hard in this life. I will never dare... I will never dare to betray the Marquis. I ask the Marquis to be more careful. "
Qi Ning stretched out his hand to help him up and said with a smile: "Master Dou, don't be nervous. I have no other intentions. Don't worry too much."
Dou Kui said awkwardly: "Master Marquis, Xiaguan... Xiaguan did some things that he shouldn't have done before, and now he regrets them. Xiaguan now has no second thoughts about the Marquis. As long as the Marquis orders him, he will do whatever it takes to go through fire and water. Please also ask the Marquis to trust me this time."
Qi Ning was several dozen years younger than Dou Kui, but he raised his hand and patted Dou Kui's shoulder gently, saying warmly: "Master Dou, since you said that, I also want to say something from the bottom of my heart to you. If you really do things for me, I can guarantee that you will be as secure as a mountain in the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. If... I mean just in case, if Mr. Dou feels that it is not appropriate to follow me, as long as you tell me in advance, I will never stop you. But if you are like Qian I really can't accept Rao Shun's behavior." He smiled faintly and said, "Qian Rao Shun is two-faced and will be dismissed from office. If Mr. Dou can't treat me one day, I will be really angry. The outcome then may not be the same. It’s better than Qian Raoshun.”
He had a smile on his face, but his eyes were as sharp as a knife. When Dou Kui met Qi Ning's gaze, his heart shuddered and he said resolutely: "Master Hou, if Dou does something that can't be tolerated by Master Hou, God damn him." Five thunders struck, but...!" He gritted his teeth and said solemnly: "You still have no descendants!"
Qi Ning knew that people in this era took oaths very seriously, not to mention even uttering such vicious oaths as "cutting off their descendants". Dou Kui didn't seem to have any second thoughts about him at the moment, and said with a smile: "Dou Kui Your Majesty, your words are serious, your words are serious." He lowered his voice and said, "There is only one cloud above my head, and it is the Emperor!"
"There is only one cloud above Xiaguan's head, and it is Lord Marquis." Dou Kui said immediately.
Qi Ning laughed, said nothing, and walked out, with Dou Kui immediately following behind him.
There are many palaces in the Huainan Prince's Mansion. Until dusk, there are still many places that have not been searched. After the property was registered, people have packed it up. Cars and horses have been mobilized from the Ministry of Household Affairs, and some items have been loaded on the truck. Transport away.
According to common practice, the family members of criminals must be sent to the Ministry of Punishment for treatment. They should be exiled and distributed. Da Xichong of the Ministry of Punishment sent people over early this morning. If they want to take away the family members of the palace, no one will stop them. But Da Xichong came directly to the eldest son Xiao Shaozong, so Qi Ning naturally could not agree. After being injured and carried back, the people from the Ministry of Punishment seemed to have forgotten to come and take away the prisoner's family members.
Qi Ning was only responsible for confiscating the palace, and how to deal with the family members was not part of Qi Ning's tasks. Chi Fengdian came over to ask for instructions on how to deal with Qi Ning. Qi Ning just said that he should handle it according to the national law and returned it to Chi Fengdian. Chi Fengdian Dian could only send people to Kyoto Prefecture to find Tie Zheng, and asked Tie Zheng to send people over to escort a certain type of prisoner to the Ministry of Punishment Prison.
Originally, only Xiao Shaozong stayed in the palace, but considering Xiao Shaozong's condition, the doctor named Yuan Moli also stayed. Xiao Shaozong was in poor health, and Yuan Moli took personal care of him. Qining discussed with Chi Fengdian, and finally Two unimportant servants were left to take care of Xiao Shaozong's life.
This is not a big deal. Chi Fengdian obviously knows that the emperor still cares about Xiao Shaozong, so he has no objection.
When it gets dark, the palace has been lit with lights, and most of the valuables have been taken out. As for some insignificant things, we can only make some records first and deal with them later. After all, tomorrow is the emperor's wedding. At midnight tonight, in order to seek luck on an auspicious day, we naturally cannot continue to ransack the house.
Qi Ning was sitting in the hall drinking tea. Dou Kui, who had been busy for a long time, finally came in with a pile of lists. He came close to Qi Ning and sighed: "Master Hou, the Huainan King has accumulated a lot of wealth over the years. . Preliminary estimate, no less than three million taels of silver." He leaned close to his ear and whispered: "Not even the treasures in the treasure room. In addition, he also has some shops outside. These are not included in the bill. The official will find a way to bring them back later. They have all turned into cash, and if nothing else happens, we will still have three to five million taels of silver."
Qi Ning was also a little surprised. After all, he had some understanding of the finances of the Jinyi Hou Mansion. As one of the four hereditary princes, the Jinyi Qi family was also a high-ranking official and well-paid family in the Chu State. However, throughout the year, even the food court It was only tens of thousands of taels of silver, but today millions of taels of silver were copied from the Huainan Palace, which is really surprising.