Qi Cheng was less than forty years old, tall and burly, and he looked quite plain. Yang Ning said lightly: "General Manager Qi has very good hearing. You can hear what I say from outside the door."
Qi Cheng said respectfully: "I have to have a good ear to handle many affairs in the old house. If I miss something and cannot handle it properly, I will be sorry for Jin Yihou."
"Get up first." Yang Ning withdrew the cold blade that was pressed against Zhao Yuan's throat, and waited for Qi Cheng to stand up before asking: "You just said that I was wrong, where was your mistake?"
Qi Cheng looked at Yang Ning and said, "The prince said that there were no errors in the accounts compiled by Mr. Zhao, so it is naturally wrong to suspect that the disappearance of the third lady is related to Mr. Zhao."
"Your ears are indeed very sharp and your mind is very clear." Yang Ning said, "Isn't this a problem?"
"Of course it's not a problem." Qi Cheng said solemnly: "I hired Mr. Zhao because he has a quick mind and is shrewd and capable in handling accounts. Although the Qi family has many accounts, Mr. Zhao has been prepared from the beginning. The annual income, expenses and income of the family's fields are all clear from the beginning. All accounts are collected together. As long as you are careful, there will be no mistakes. This is like building a house. As long as the foundation is laid, the house is built. There won’t be any big mistakes.”
Seeing that his eloquence was different from his simple appearance, Yang Ning smiled lightly and said, "So, does this Mr. Zhao have a great talent?"
"At least Mr. Zhao can't handle the accounts of the old house." Qi Cheng said sternly: "Mr. Zhao has worked hard in the past few years to help the villain take care of the old house. Even if there is no credit, there is still hard work. The prince treats him like this He is chilling."
Yang Ning smiled and said: "Manager Qi, when you talk about hard work, do you mean yourself?"
Qi Cheng said calmly: "I know that the prince will have many doubts, but I think that the most important thing now is to find the whereabouts of the third lady."
"You know that this prince has many doubts?" Yang Ning stared at Qi Cheng, "What doubts do you think I have?"
"The Crown Prince and the Third Lady suddenly returned to the old house without any prior notice, and they didn't bring many servants with them. Of course they came back in a hurry." Qi Cheng said: "To allow the Third Lady and the Crown Prince to come back in such a hurry, it's natural that the Old House did something good. The prince now suspects that there is something wrong with the accounts, and even suspects that the disappearance of the third lady is related to Mr. Zhao. If the villain is not wrong, the prince ultimately suspects that there is something wrong with the villain, and has doubts about the villain in his heart. "
Yang Ning immediately felt that Qi Cheng was indeed not a simple character.
"The villain didn't come back last night because he felt uncomfortable when he saw his father unaware of his affairs. He stayed there to take care of his father all night to fulfill his filial piety. If he knew that the prince was coming, he would never dare to delay." Qi Cheng's voice was still respectful: "The villain doesn't know why the Third Lady and the Crown Prince suddenly came to check the accounts, and I don't know what the Crown Prince has about the villain. I will explain all this in detail later and relieve the Crown Prince's doubts. But now it's important to find the Third Lady. I don't know. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
Yang Ning asked: "Then how do you think we should find the third lady?"
"There are not many families in a radius of more than ten miles, but the Qi family has spies everywhere here, and the people in the surrounding villages will be our eyes and ears." Qi Cheng looked at Yang Ning, "If the prince agrees, we will now Just send people to search within a radius of twenty miles. If anyone takes away the third lady, as long as someone sees it, we can find out as soon as we ask."
Yang Ning thought to himself that the method Qi Cheng said was not unreasonable. He knew that it was not too late. Regardless of whether the accounts were true or false, finding Gu Qinghan was the most important thing. He nodded and said: "You will send people to inform all the villages now. If If someone discovers the traces of the third lady, there will be a reward."
Qi Cheng was quick and quick, and immediately ordered several men in the old house to ride horses to nearby villages to inform them, and also ordered the maids to search carefully throughout the house.
Since there were not enough manpower, several guards and Zhao Yuan also searched the house.
Seeing Yang Ning's stern expression, Qi Cheng said from the sidelines: "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, the third lady just returned to her old house yesterday, and she lost sight of her within a day. It is very likely that you will be spotted on the way."
"Oh?" Yang Ning frowned and said, "You mean someone followed us all the way to the old house? Then why did they kidnap the third lady?"
"Kiddling the Third Madam should not be their ultimate goal." Qi Cheng thought for a while, "Is it possible that they are coming for the Crown Prince?" He frowned and said, "The Crown Prince and the Third Madam traveled lightly on this trip. I don’t even know, it shouldn’t be discovered by anyone.”
Yang Ning thought to himself that if someone was following him, I would have discovered it a long time ago, and you have to tell me, but then he felt that he couldn't be so absolute. After all, the ugly man in black cloak followed him, and he had never noticed it.
But seeing Qi Cheng's expression solemn, with a worried look in his eyes, he seemed to be very worried about Gu Qinghan, and thought to himself that he had guessed wrong. Qi Cheng was really working for the Qi family, and he had always been suspicious of him. Could it be that he was wrongly blamed
"Do you think they are coming for me?" Yang Ning asked.
Qi Cheng said: "The third lady is just a female family member, so why would the opponent kidnap the third lady? The villain thought that those people might not have found the prince in the old house, so they simply kidnapped the third lady first, with the ultimate goal of threatening the prince. If The villain guessed right, it won’t be long before they are likely to take the initiative to contact us.”
"What are they trying to hold me hostage for?" Yang Ning asked, "For money?"
Qi Cheng shook his head and said: "This villain has no way of knowing for sure." After a pause, he said: "The prince's whereabouts should have been exposed, and there are too few guards around him. I am worried about the prince's safety. Should I send someone to mobilize some manpower? come over?"
"Do you think those people are still going against me?" Yang Ning smiled lightly and said, "Is it possible that our Qi family still has many enemies here?"
Qi Cheng hesitated for a moment and then said: "The villain is not worried about the enemies here, but worried about... enemies coming from the capital."
Yang Ning frowned.
Qi Cheng's words reminded him that the Jinyihou Mansion was now at a low point, and he had many enemies in the capital. Not to mention others, before he came to Jiangling, he had already formed a grudge against the Dou family, the Minister of Household Affairs. But it turned out that as Qi Cheng said, he was already being targeted when he left the capital
Except for the ghost hospital, almost every place in the house was searched. Everything was as Yang Ning expected, and there was no trace of Gu Qinghan.
At dusk, Wei Tong was suddenly seen limping over in a hurry. When he saw Yang Ning, he immediately said: "Your Majesty, here... there is a letter...!" He raised his hand, and there was a letter in his hand. Yang Ning had already grabbed it. When I came to get it, I saw that there was no word on the envelope.
"Your Majesty, this... this was found at the back door." Wei Tong said, "This letter was left outside the back door. I don't know who put it there."
Yang Ning had already opened the letter, glanced at it a few times, and then asked Qi Cheng: "Where is Xia Shan?"
"Xiashan?" Qi Cheng said immediately: "Less than twenty miles to the west is Xiashan. It's not big. There is a river at the foot of the mountain, and we have hundreds of acres of farmland there. Why did the prince mention Xiashan? "
"Is that river called Hongsha River?" Yang Ning handed the letter in his hand to Qi Cheng.
Qi Cheng nodded and said: "Exactly." After taking the letter, he saw only two lines of words on it.
"I'm in a warehouse by the Hongsha River in Xiashan Mountain. I'm going to an appointment alone. I'm fine!"
Qi Cheng said in a deep voice: "Let's rush there now."
Yang Ning shook his head and said: "As mentioned above, I went to the appointment alone. This letter is naturally directed at me. If you follow me, I'm afraid it will not be good for the third lady." He asked: "What does the warehouse mentioned in it mean?"
"Every year during the autumn harvest, heavy rains often occur suddenly. In order to prevent rain, several stone houses were built by the Hongsha River specifically for temporary storage of food." Qi Cheng said: "The autumn harvest has passed, and the stone houses are already empty. Otherwise, someone will be watching. Your Majesty, the letter says that the third lady is over there, could it be a trap?"
"trap?"
"The letter said to go to the appointment alone and not let the prince bring anyone there. This... This is really too dangerous." Qi Cheng frowned and said: "How can the prince, with a rich body, take risks easily? Regardless of whether it is true or not, the prince cannot go."
"If I don't go, what will happen to the third lady?" Yang Ning said: "The third lady must be in their hands. Naturally, I can't just sit back and watch because of my own safety."
Qi Cheng sighed: "Now it seems that their goal is really the prince and not the third lady. If the prince goes to the appointment, it will play into their hands." After a pause, he said: "Your Majesty, I will lead people over quietly and act according to the opportunity. If there is any If you have the chance, rescue the third lady, you...!"
"What if there is no chance?" Yang Ning interrupted: "I want to ensure the absolute safety of the third lady. If it goes against the opponent's wishes, the third lady will be even more dangerous." He glanced at Qi Cheng and said, "You help me Get a horse and I'll try to get there before dark."
Qi Cheng wanted to persuade, but Yang Ning had already said coldly: "No need to say more, hurry up and prepare your horse."
Qi Cheng looked helpless and immediately went to prepare the horse himself. Yang Ning did not waste any time and went out. Qi Cheng led the horse over and said worriedly: "Your Majesty, I will rush to the county government immediately and find some government officials...!"
"You don't have to go anywhere without my instructions. Just wait in this house." Yang Ning said calmly: "It's not a mountain of swords and a sea of fire. No matter who the opponent is, if he retreats despite the difficulties, I might still be able to give him a chance, otherwise ...!" There was coldness in his eyes, and he said coldly: "Otherwise he will seek his own death." Without further words, he shook the horse's reins and urged the horse to go west.