Qining used both kindness and power to expel a few people who were monitoring him, but he also made a promise to everyone, which lifted everyone's spirits.
After everyone dispersed, Gu Qinghan said anxiously: "Ning'er, Madam... what happened to Madam?" She knew there must be something fishy, but for a moment she didn't know what happened.
Qi Ning saw Han Shou hesitating beside him, and whispered to Gu Qinghan: "Sanniang, wait a moment, I will take you to see Mrs. Tai later." He said to Han Shou: "Manager Han, come with me." Come in. Once inside the hall, Han Shou hesitated and followed him in.
Before Qi Ning could sit down, Han Shou had already said: "Master Hou, this old slave... I want to apologize to you!" He was about to kneel down, but Qi Ning stretched out his hand to hold his arm, and said softly: "There is no need for more, Mr. "Yan, I know what's going on. You are the manager of the Marquis Mansion, and it is natural for the Madam to ask you to pay attention to my daily movements."
Han Shou was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said: "Although I... I think it's not very good for Mrs. Tai to do this, but since she ordered me, I can't disobey her. But Lord Marquis, don't worry, I... Although I will obey Mrs. Mrs.'s orders, I can't disobey her." I have my eyes on the Marquis, but I have never said anything bad about the Marquis in front of the Madam, old slave...!"
"I believe it." Qi Ning smiled and said: "Old manager, you have been in the Hou Mansion for so many years and are an old man in the Hou Mansion. I can understand your state of mind. But the wife had a stroke and was lying in bed and could no longer get up. Before, We don’t need to mention the matter again. From now on, you will assist the third lady in handling the affairs of the house. When you can’t do it anymore, if you are willing, you can continue to let your heirs come to the Hou Mansion to serve as errands. As long as I am here, you will always There’s a bowl of rice to eat.”
Han Shou sighed and said: "Master Hou values love and righteousness, old slave...!" He smiled bitterly and then whispered: "Master Marquis, I know you have always wanted to know about my wife, and I really don't know much about my wife. ,only… !"
Qi Ning knew that the "Madam" he was talking about must be Liu Suyi. He cheered up and whispered: "Does the boss know about my mother?"
Han Shou hesitated for a moment and hesitated to speak. Qi Ning said softly: "Don't worry, there is no third person here. If you know anything, just tell me."
"Master Marquis, when my wife was about to give birth, the general was still on the front line." Han Shou lowered his voice and said: "On the night when my wife gave birth, the wife personally led people to guard there, and... At that time, we also invited the eminent monks from Daguangming Temple to come. Pray for blessings.”
"The eminent monk of Daguangming Temple?" Qi Ning was startled and asked in a low voice, "Do you know which eminent monk it is?"
"The old slave still remembers that two masters came at that time, one was called Master Jingkong, and the other was called Jingchen." Han Shou recalled: "The two masters were very profound in Buddhism, and they came to the Hou Mansion to pray for his wife. "
"Pure the air? Purify the dust?" Qi Ning's mind turned around. Qi Ning, the thirteen monks of Daguangming Temple, besides having a deep memory of the Master Kongzang, was also quite familiar with these two people.
Master Jingchen's status in Daguangming Temple is second only to Master Kongzang. However, when King Mu Ye escaped from Daguangming Temple, he attacked Master Jingchen, causing Master Jingchen to pass away. Master Jingkong is the first person in the Kongming Pavilion of Daguangming Temple. , Kongming Pavilion is the gathering place for the elite of Daguangming Temple, which also shows the status of Master Jingkong in the temple.
Han Shou nodded and said: "That night, none of us servants of the Hou Mansion were allowed to approach Madam's courtyard. Except for the old Madam and the monks brought by the two eminent monks, there were only two midwives."
Qi Ning nodded slightly and said nothing. He stared at Han Shou and asked Han Shou to continue.
Han Shou looked around and saw Gu Qinghan thoughtfully thinking in the yard, still far away. He even came closer to Qining and lowered his voice: "Old slave, I still remember that at midnight that night, there was a sudden incident in Madam's yard. There was the sound of fighting, but no one dared to get close to see what was going on. The sound of fighting stopped not long after. The madam stayed in the madam's yard that night. It was not until early the next morning that the two midwives came out. …!”
"What happened next?"
Han Shou smiled bitterly and said: "After the old lady came out, she immediately ordered the manager of the Hou Mansion to prepare for the funeral...!" He then explained: "The manager of the Hou Mansion back then was Manager Qiu, who was Qiu Yi's father."
Qi Ning frowned. When he came to the Hou Mansion, Qiu Yi was already the general manager of the Hou Mansion, but he colluded with the three old masters and others in an attempt to put Qi Yu in power. After the conspiracy was exposed, Qiu Yi was expelled from the Hou Mansion. It was just that Liu Suyi had just given birth to a child, and the Hou Mansion was happy to welcome Lin'er, but the wife was asked to prepare for the funeral. It was really unbelievable.
"The old slave is very clear about this matter, just because the errand that Mr. Qiu ordered the old slave to prepare at that time was to prepare the coffin." Han Shou said in a low voice: "The old slave was very strange. I remember asking who was preparing the coffin. Manager Qiu said that although the wife was able to keep the child due to dystocia,... the wife passed away."
Qi Ning's expression was even more solemn. Han Shou only thought that Qi Ning was grieving Liu Suyi's passing, and whispered: "The Madam is very anxious to have her buried as soon as possible, and she also ordered the house not to make it public. In the old slave's heart I thought that if I really wanted to buy a coffin for my wife, I would have to use precious wood. From selecting the wood to building it, it would take three to five days at the earliest. But Manager Qiu ordered the old slave to prepare the coffin within a day, and... And he also said that there is no need to care about the quality of the coffin, as long as it is almost the same, the old slave... The old slave had no choice but to find a reasonable coffin as much as possible. "
"My wife quickly put...my mother to death?"
"Only one day passed." Han Shou said: "We carried the coffin into my wife's yard, and it was two eminent monks from Daguangming Temple who buried my wife."
"Is it a monk from Guangming Temple who carries out the burial?" Qining was stunned. Although he knew that monks performed rituals during funerals, he had never heard that monks were responsible for carrying out burials.
Burial for the dead is a very particular and taboo thing.
However, there is a special category of people called embalmers, who are responsible for placing the body of the deceased into the coffin. It is said that embalmers have special methods of exorcising evil spirits and will not be contaminated by evil spirits.
Liu Suyi passed away in childbirth, but a monk came to bury her. This thing sounds weird.
"Yes." Han Shou nodded and said, "But the wife did not allow this matter to be spread. She also ordered that if she said a word to others, she would... cut her tongue out!" There was a trace of fear in Han Shou's eyes. , obviously also very afraid of the Dowager Madam.
Qi Ning said warmly: "Don't worry, boss. Every word you say will never come out of your mouth and enter my ears. No third person will know."
Han Shou sighed: "Master Hou, actually... In fact, at this old age, the old slave has nothing to be afraid of. It's just that I saw that Master Hou has always been very concerned about his wife's affairs, and... and there are not many people who know what happened back then, The old slave is only worried that if he doesn’t tell this matter, the Marquis will always be kept in the dark.”
"Not many people know about it?" Qining asked in a low voice: "That's right, boss, you just said that the two stable women who delivered my mother's birth back then...!"
"Master Marquis, you can't find them." Han Shou said softly: "After that incident, the whereabouts of the two stable women were unknown, and there has been no news since."
Qining was startled, and Han Shou said in a low voice: "The strangest thing is that after my wife was laid to rest, the wife did not set up a mourning hall for her, nor did she announce her death to the public...!" With a solemn expression: "The old slave asked privately. When he passed Manager Qiu, Manager Qiu was also very surprised. He only said that the Madam told him that she had passed away in childbirth at a young age, which was a bad blessing. If a mourning hall was set up to attract people to pay homage, it would also hurt the blessings of future generations, so she There is no mourning hall decorated.”
At this moment, Qi Ning remembered that Xiang Baiying had mentioned this matter to him.
Xiang Baiying once said that the Jinyi Hou Mansion did say to the outside world that Liu Suyi passed away because of dystocia. Xiang Baiying and Liu Suyi had a close relationship back then, and they called them siblings. After Liu Suyi passed away, Xiang Baiying once thought He went into the mansion to pay homage, but was blocked, and even his body was not seen.
Qi Ning knew that Liu Suyi died in childbirth. Although the Dowager asked not to make any publicity, the death of the dignified Madame Jinyi Hou was naturally not covered by paper. After all, it was still known that Xiang Baiying was in the capital at that time, and The Beggar Clan is well-informed, and it is only natural that he knows about this matter.
Xiang Baiying wanted to pay homage to the deceased Liu Suyi, but Jinyihou Mansion blocked him from entering, which was still somewhat unkind.
"Mr. Boss, when my mother was buried, didn't many people know about it?" Qining asked in a low voice.
Han Shou shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Master Marquis, I don't know when my wife will be buried, let alone where."
Qi Ning was startled and said in surprise: "You didn't know?" Madam Hou was buried in a royal brocade, but the people in the Hou's mansion didn't know when she would be buried. Qi Ning found it even more incredible.
Han Shou hurriedly explained: "On the third day after my wife passed away, the general rushed back from the front line. When the general came back, he just thought that my wife had given birth to a child and was going to have a banquet to celebrate. Who knew...!" He shook his head, After a moment of silence, he continued: "The coffin has been parked in Madam's yard, and no one dared to go there. After the General came back, he only stayed for half a month before going back to the front line. When the General left, the old slave knew that Madam had been killed. Arrangements were made to send him out of the Hou Mansion for burial, but when and where he would be buried, not only the old slave, but also other people in the Hou Mansion did not know."
Qining took a deep breath. This matter was indescribably weird and unreasonable from beginning to end.
"From then on, no one in the Hou family dared to mention the Madam's affairs." Han Shou whispered: "The Madam is the most taboo about this, so I never said a word. Lord Hou, what the old slave knows There are only so many things, and I know nothing about other things."
Qi Ning nodded slightly and said softly: "Old manager, you told me this today, which makes me very happy." He glanced outside the door and saw that Gu Qinghan was still waiting outside, and said softly: "I'll talk to you later. , I will go to see the Madam with the Third Madam first." He smiled slightly and said nothing, and went out. Under the sun, Gu Qinghan was so graceful. Qining stepped forward and said with a chuckle: "Sanniang, you have been waiting for a long time."
Gu Qinghan glanced into the room and whispered: "What are you and Manager Han talking about secretly? Are you afraid that I will know?"
"I just asked him to help Sanniang more in the future and listen to Sanniang's advice in everything." Qi Ning looked at Gu Qinghan's beautiful and fair face and whispered: "Since Sanniang knew that Mrs. Tai had a stroke, why didn't she go there first? Look? Are you afraid of her? "