Yang Ning spent the whole night immersed in these dozens of swords in paintings, trying them out in person from time to time. Unknowingly, the sky was getting brighter.
He knew that if someone discovered that he had secretly entered the courtyard, even if he was the prince of Jinyi, it would not be good after all. After all, the prohibition of admission to the hospital was a rule set by the old marquis of Jinyi when he was still alive. Instead of setting an example, he was Breaking the rules by sneaking into the hospital will inevitably attract criticism.
He sorted out the dozens of drawing papers and stuffed them into his arms, thinking to himself that no one would care if these old papers had been left there for years and no one would care if he took them away.
After climbing over the wall and leaving the yard, he first returned to the room that he had prepared for himself. He found some silk cloth to wrap the dozens of pages of drawing papers, and temporarily stuffed them under the bed. As he was packing them away, he heard a cry from outside. , someone brought water to wash up. After Yang Ning washed, someone came over to invite him to have breakfast. When they arrived at the restaurant, Qi Feng and others were already waiting, but Gu Qinghan was nowhere to be seen.
He knew that Gu Qinghan was tired these days and must be still resting. He caught a glimpse of Wei Tong standing nearby and asked, "The third lady hasn't gotten up yet?"
"Reply to the prince, someone has been called. The third lady is still resting and has not agreed. We should not disturb her. Don't worry, prince. The kitchen is ready. When the third lady gets up, she will have breakfast." Wei Tong said respectfully.
The old house also has the rules of the old house. Three meals a day are served on time, and the hierarchy is orderly. Although Qi Feng and others are the guards of the Hou Mansion, they are still servants after all, and they cannot have dinner with Yang Ning. But Yang Ning still didn't adapt to this lifestyle of distinction between superiors and inferiors, so he asked his servants to deliver Qi Feng and others' breakfast to the restaurant.
There are also two tables in the old house restaurant, one on the upper side and one on the lower side, but the upper one is obviously more refined and more expensive than the lower one.
Yang Ning asked Qi Feng to sit at the upper table with him, while the others sat at the lower table. When breakfast came, Yang Ning pushed everyone out, and then whispered to Qi Feng: "Hurry up and eat , after eating, take two people to Jingzhou City."
Qi Feng was startled and asked: "Jingzhou City?" He thought he just rushed here last night, why did he have to rush back so early in the morning
"You go find the prefect of Jiangling." Qi Feng said: "When you see the prefect of Jiangling, ask him how many people he sent to escort the tax bankers to the capital. If he really sent people, you can bring the two soldiers who escorted the tax bankers. , I want to ask in person."
"Ah?" Qi Feng said in surprise: "Your Majesty, the tax money... the tax money has been delivered?" He took someone to escort Gu Qinghan back to Jiangling. Of course he also knew that it was because of the delay in the tax money.
"You don't need to ask any more questions." Yang Ning said softly, "Do you know the governor of Jiangling?"
Qi Feng immediately nodded and said: "The governor of Jiangling is a good and upright official. He was recommended by the general back then. The general rarely recommended people, but in order to benefit Jiangling's homeland, he specially recommended a smart and capable official to Jiangling as the governor." He lowered his voice. The voice said: "I have met this prefect twice. I don't know if he still remembers me, but as long as Jinyihou is mentioned, he will not fail to show respect and will definitely cooperate carefully."
"That's very good." Yang Ning whispered: "In addition, I heard that the chief manager of the old house was paralyzed by a stroke and is now in Jingzhou City. If this matter is true, it is impossible for the Jiangling Prefect to know nothing about it. By the way, you can ask the Prefect to help You find the general manager. No matter what, we have worked hard for the old house and the Qi family for many years, and we can't ignore it. You take me to see the general manager first."
Qi Feng said: "Your Majesty, don't worry." He whispered: "Your Majesty, do you have any other instructions?"
Yang Ning pondered for a moment, then asked softly: "Do you know anything about the background of the chief executive?"
"I only know that the Grand Steward's hometown is in Jiangxia, but he is from the same clan as the Qi family. He seemed to have had contacts with the old Marquis in his early years. If there was any contact, I don't know." Qi Feng said in a low voice: "But the Grand Steward was back then. When he came to seek refuge, the old Marquis immediately asked him to stay and made him the general manager of the old house. The old Marquis trusted the general manager very much, and the general manager has also taken care of the old house in an orderly manner over the years. "
"Then do you know about his family?" Yang Ning asked: "Since he is the manager of the old house, we can't know nothing about his family affairs?"
Qi Feng shook his head and said: "I don't know. It seems that no one in the mansion has mentioned this." He asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, do you think something is wrong? How about I send someone to Jiangxia to find out the situation? , Jiangxia and Jiangling are not too far away, we travel very fast day and night, and it only takes three or four days to go back and forth."
Yang Ning thought for a moment and then said: "That's fine, but there is no need to make this matter public. Send someone to Jiangxia quickly to find out the situation at the housekeeper's house...!"
Qi Feng nodded and said, "I'll make arrangements immediately." He stood up and was about to leave, but Yang Ning stopped him: "How can you have the strength to work if you're not full? Eat first."
Qi Feng touched his head and said to the guards: "Hurry up, there are still things to do."
Yang Ning took a few bites without feeling hungry. When he went out, he happened to see Wei Tong whispering with a servant not far away. He frowned and walked over and asked, "What are you doing sneakily?"
Wei Tong smiled hurriedly and said, "Your Majesty, have you eaten? You are talking about the lunatic outside."
"Crazy?" Yang Ning asked curiously: "What kind of crazy?"
"That's what happened. Originally, Master Cheng said he would come back last night, so I kept guarding the gate. In the middle of the night, I didn't hear any sound." Wei Tong explained: "Old slave thought that Master Cheng had something to do. So I was getting ready to take a rest. Before I took a break, I went out to take a look and found something furry lying there at the root of the wall outside the door. At that time, I scared the old slave and thought it was a wild dog."
"A hairy thing?" Yang Ning frowned.
Wei Tong hurriedly said: "Yes, but the old slave took a lantern and took a closer look, and found out that it was a person. The person was lying under the wall and asleep. He may be a homeless beggar, but the person was wrapped in a blanket. A black cloak...!"
"It's him!" Yang Ning's body trembled, and she immediately thought of the ugly man. Could it be that the ugly man in the black cloak followed him here? But he and Gu Qinghan were working hard yesterday and had already gotten rid of the ugly man on the way. How could he know the way to follow? It's not like a dog's nose, smelling the scent and following it.
"Take me to see where he is now?" Yang Ning asked as he walked.
Wei Tong limped and led the way, saying: "Your Majesty, that's a madman. I thought he would leave early this morning, but when I opened the door and looked, he was still lying there. The old slave gave him two But he picked up the wotou and hit people, so the old slave could only have someone drive him away with a stick. But now he ran back again and was still at the door."
Yang Ning said coldly: "If he doesn't eat steamed buns, why don't you give him something else to eat? I see there are a lot of snacks on the table this morning. Why don't you just give him some? Why do you use sticks to chase people away?" "
Wei Tong said awkwardly: "Your Majesty, not everyone can enjoy those snacks. This is because the Crown Prince and the Third Lady are here, and the kitchen only made them overnight last night. This place is relatively remote now, not as good as the capital. There are no good things, and there are only These snacks are just okay…”
"Don't talk nonsense, and quickly have someone pick up some of those snacks." Yang Ning said angrily: "I will tell you again, and you should also inform other people in the house, if there are beggars or people in distress coming here in the future. , if anyone dares to use a stick to chase people away again, I will skin him. When everyone is in trouble, it is helpful to help. You are so old, don’t you understand this? "
Wei Tong obviously didn't expect that Yang Ning would reprimand him mercilessly for a lunatic guy, and he was a little scared. However, he didn't know that Yang Ning had lived on the streets. Although the time was short, the short experience was still... Let Yang Ning realize the misery of those people.
After leaving the gate of the old house, I saw the ugly man wearing a black cloak leaning against the wall. When he heard the footsteps, the ugly man immediately turned his head, with a slightly frightened look on his face. When he saw Yang Ning clearly, that A silly smile appeared on Zhang's ugly face. He got up and trotted to Yang Ning. He stretched out his hand and said: "Hungry... eat something... hungry...!"
Seeing his unkempt appearance, Yang Ning felt pity in his heart. He had a temperament that was tough when strong and weak when weak. He smiled and said, "Why did you follow me here?" He turned around and took a big plate. With a very exquisitely decorated snack, he asked with a smile: "Would you like to eat?"
The style of these snacks and the fragrance they exude naturally whet one's appetite. The ugly man in black cloak has reached out to grab it, but Yang Ning's arm flashes, and the ugly man misses it. Just as he is about to get anxious, Yang Ning He said with a smile: "Look at your hands, they are full of dust. If you eat like this, you will get sick. If you want to eat these snacks, just listen to me and follow him in first, let him wash you well, and then change Once the clothes are clean, all these snacks will be yours, do you agree?"
Of course, Yang Ning wouldn't think it was just a coincidence that the ugly man in the black cloak was chasing him here. Maybe in addition to the speed of a cheetah, this weird ugly man really had other unknown special abilities that made him follow him. Come on, since this guy is chasing me, I should at least help him clean up.
The ugly man was quite anxious. He repeated those two sentences and walked around Yang Ning, just wanting to get some snacks.
Yang Ning's face darkened and she said, "Are you disobedient? If you are disobedient, you won't get a snack. From now on, I won't give you anything to eat."
The ugly man in black cloak obviously understood what Yang Ning said, with a look of fear on his face. Yang Ning handed the plate back to Wei Tong, pointed at Wei Tong and said to the ugly man: "Follow him in now, he will look for you." When someone cleans up for you, washes you and puts on clean clothes, he will give you something to eat.”
The ugly man in black cloak looked at Wei Tong, nodded his head suddenly, and said "Yeah, yeah, yeah" in his mouth.
Although Wei Tong was just a janitor of the old house, he claimed that his status was much higher than that of ordinary janitors. Seeing the slovenly appearance of the ugly man in black cloak, he was a little disgusted, but how could he dare to disobey the prince's words, let alone He had just been scolded by the prince, and now he tried his best to put on a smile and said to the ugly man in black cloak: "Come with me, I will take you to wash up."
Yang Ning ordered: "This guy looks like he hasn't been washed for a long time. Wash him more, and then find him some suitable clothes to put on. It doesn't have to be too good, just be clean and comfortable." After a pause, he added: " Let him stay in the house for the time being, and let the house take care of his food and clothing first, and then make arrangements before I return to Beijing."
"Old slave, I obey." Wei Tong was suspicious and asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, have you met before? This guy seems to know you?" Seeing Yang Ning giving him a cold look, he didn't dare to ask more questions, and led the black cloak Chou Han entered the house.
After Yang Ning's instructions, the people in the house really didn't dare to neglect it. It took the boss's effort and six or seven buckets of water to finally clean the ugly man and put him into suitable clothes. The ugly man in black cloak thought He ate some snacks and let the people in the house clean and change him. He only changed into clean clothes, but the black cloak refused to be taken away, so everyone let him go.
Qi Feng and others had breakfast and then set off separately, leaving three people behind. He took the two of them out of the old house. Naturally, other people in the house did not dare to ask more questions.
It was three o'clock in the morning, but Gu Qinghan was nowhere to be seen. Yang Ning wondered why Gu Qinghan stayed in bed for so long today. He didn't eat all night and didn't know if he was hungry. He sent his maid over and called her twice, but she never responded.
Gu Qinghan didn't get up, and Qi Cheng never returned to his old house. Yang Ning could only take out the drawing papers in his room and look at them. Unknowingly, at noon, he packed up and went out, and learned that Gu Qinghan had not moved yet. , Yang Ning vaguely felt that something was wrong, and found the maid who helped Gu Qinghan sleep last night, and asked her to lead him to Gu Qinghan's yard. There was another maid waiting in the yard. Yang Ning entered the house in the yard and knocked on the door. He was tied up, but he refused to listen.
Yang Ning called a few more times, but there was no movement. He knew that Gu Qinghan had slept all night and his energy should have recovered. Even if he was still a little tired, he could not sleep so well. His heart sank and he asked: "Third Madam You haven’t come out since last night?”
"My lord, last night I served the third lady to bathe and change clothes, and then went to bed to rest. I was supposed to wait inside, but the third lady said no and bolted the door herself from the inside." A maid said: "The two of you took turns in the courtyard last night. I'm on duty in case the third lady has trouble finding anyone. I called two or three times today, but the third lady never responded."
Yang Ning pondered for a moment, then his face suddenly changed slightly, he took out the cold blade, and in the surprised eyes of the two maids, he opened the door quickly. After opening the door and entering, he turned around and asked in a deep voice: "Which room is the third lady in?"
A maid hurriedly pointed to the left. Yang Ning didn't wait for her to say anything, walked over quickly, kicked open the door, entered the room, took one look, and her expression changed drastically.