"Jiang family?" Wei Yujiang was startled, and Qining's eyes twitched slightly.
Mr. Hou immediately said: "Master Hou, that's what happened. General Shen looked at the date and found that yesterday happened to be the day of encoffining. The next day of encoffining will not be until more than ten days later, so General Shen discussed with Lao Nu whether to Let the Governor and his wife be buried early. It’s just that the Governor’s coffin has been secretly prepared, but... it’s impossible to find the Madam’s coffin for a while. If you miss yesterday, you will have to wait for more than ten days, so General Shen asked the old slave if he could Figure out a way.”
"What happened when we got the coffin from the Jiang family?"
Mr. Hou explained: "At the beginning of last spring, the wife of the Jiang family passed away. Jiang Mantian... is the patriarch of the Jiang family and the president of the Donghai Chamber of Commerce. In order to fulfill his filial piety to his mother, he built it with the finest and most precious wood from overseas. The coffin was originally intended to be used by Mrs. Jiang, but after the Feng Shui master saw it, he warned that if such a precious coffin was used to bury Mrs. Jiang, it would be detrimental to future generations and would ruin their blessings."
When Qi Ning heard this, he roughly understood the reason.
"General Shen was about to bury his wife, so I hurriedly thought of the Jiang family." Mr. Hou said: "The coffin has been stored for a long time, and I was wondering if I could buy it if I need it urgently. Madam has a distinguished status, Mrs. Jiang Tai has no blessings to use, but Madam’s blessings can be used."
"The news of the death of the Grand Governor must be concealed as much as possible so as not to leak out." Wei Yujiang said: "The old manager went to buy the coffin from the Jiang family. Isn't he... not worried about leaking the news?"
Shen Liangqiu finally said: "Wei Sishen wants to build a coffin secretly. From finding the wood to starting construction, it will take at least five or six days. After yesterday, we can only wait for ten days. Manager Hou informed me The Jiang family owned the coffin and came to discuss it with me. After much deliberation, I decided to buy it secretly. In the middle of the night last night, I personally looked for Jiang Mantian and did not reveal who died, but he should be able to guess who died. However, I have warned him that once the matter is spread, he will be held responsible, and Jiang Mantian also promised me that he will never leak any information about this to the outside world."
Qi Ning sighed: "There is no airtight wall, General Shen. In fact, even if Jiang Mantian doesn't tell the public, this matter can't be hidden for long." At this time, a servant came to bring tea. Qi Ning picked up the tea cup and blew it. Cha Mo then asked: "The Governor and his wife have already been buried. I wonder when they will be buried? Will they be buried at sea?"
"The humble general has already sent a letter to the old Marquis, passing on the last wishes of the Governor and his wife. Whether they want to be buried at sea in the East China Sea or sent back to the capital, we have to wait for the instructions of the old Marquis." Shen Liangqiu said: "It's just that If Black Tiger Shark cannot be captured and brought to justice, and his skin and tendons are peeled off to commemorate the spirit of the Grand Governor in heaven, I will not be able to do justice to the Grand Governor, nor to the imperial court."
"Oh?" Qi Ning leaned forward slightly: "General Shen is going to capture the Black Tiger Shark?"
"Not bad." Shen Liangqiu clenched his fist and sneered.
"The black tiger shark comes and goes without a trace in the East China Sea. When the Governor was alive, his whereabouts were never found." Qi Ning stared at Shen Liangqiu and said, "Is there any way General Shen can find him?"
Shen Liangqiu hesitated to speak, but finally shook his head and said: "There is no good solution at the moment, but the general is sending people to search with all his strength."
Qi Ning felt that he seemed to be hiding something, but since he didn't say it, he couldn't ask further questions. He stood up and said, "General Shen, the Governor has been buried. The deceased is the most important. I want to burn incense to the Governor, but I don't know...!"
Shen Liangqiu said hurriedly: "Thank you, Mr. Hou." Xiang Hou said: "Mr. Hou, hurry up and prepare."
Manager Hou hurriedly stepped back. Qi Ning nodded to Wei Yujiang. Shen Liangqiu led the way and led Qi Ning and Qi Ning to the courtyard where the crime occurred. The sun was rising and the sky was clear. Outside the courtyard were two fully armed guards. Guards, entering the courtyard, there is a solemn atmosphere. There is also a warrior guard at each corner of the courtyard. Two more people are posted in front of the door. There are eight people visible inside and outside. The guards are not lax.
Shen Liangqiu opened the door and several people entered the house. In front of them was the decorated mourning hall, with a white cloth blocking the back.
Logically speaking, when Prince Jin Dao, the Commander-in-Chief of Donghai Navy, passed away, there would only be an endless stream of people coming to pay homage. However, due to the circumstances, the mourning hall could only be deserted, not even the servants.
Manager Hou lit incense beside him and presented it to Qi Ning respectfully. After Qi Ning paid his respects, he lit the incense, and Wei Yujiang also followed suit.
Qi Ning stood up and moved behind the white cloth. The room had already been cleared. There were two coffins in the back, both covered with white cloth. Qin Ning stared at them for a moment and murmured: "Great Governor, have a good journey."
After the worship, Qi Ning was about to leave when Shen Liangqiu suddenly said: "Master Marquis, please stay!"
Qi Ning stopped and turned around. Seeing Shen Liangqiu's expression, he obviously had something to say to himself. He also saw Shen Liangqiu glance at Wei Yujiang. Qining understood and said to Wei Yujiang: "Wei Sishen, you First, follow the steward to the front hall to have tea."
Wei Yujiang cupped his hands, glanced at Shen Liangqiu, and then retreated with Manager Hou.
Waiting for General Manager Hou to leave with Wei Yujiang, Shen Liangqiu raised his hand and asked Qi Ning to go aside to talk. Qi Ning walked over with his hands behind his back and said softly: "When General Shen was in the front hall earlier, he seemed to have something that was inconvenient to say. .”
"The Marquis has a clear warning!" Shen Liangqiu said softly: "The Marquis asked before if there was a way to find the Black Tiger Shark. There were other people at that time. I did not report the truth, so please forgive me."
Qi Ning said "Oh" and said with a smile: "So, General Shen does have clues about the black tiger shark."
"Master Hou, do you still remember that not long ago, a group of pirates under Black Tiger Shark secretly came ashore and wanted to find out the news, but we discovered them and killed them all." Shen Liangqiu said in a low voice.
"Of course I remember." Qi Ning said: "Weren't all those people beheaded and their heads hung on the seaside? Later, those heads were taken away by the Black Tiger Shark."
Shen Liangqiu said: "A total of seven human heads were hung on the beach at that time."
"What does it mean?"
"There were actually nine pirates caught that time." Shen Liangqiu whispered.
"Nine people were captured, but there were only seven heads. Could it be...?" Qi Ning seemed to realize something. Shen Liangqiu had already nodded lightly and said: "Yes, I will let the two remaining people go."
Qi Ning frowned, and Shen Liangqiu explained in a low voice: "The pirates in the East China Sea were not born in the sea. They used to live on the land in the East China Sea. Later, due to various reasons, they fell into the sea and became bandits. These pirates live at sea all year round, but they are always concerned about the land. Firstly, they want to plunder the resources on the land, and another reason is to remember their relatives on the land."
Qi Ning nodded slightly, and Shen Liangqiu continued: "After the nine people were arrested, I immediately interrogated them. In fact, I have already figured out their origins. Half of them have relatives on the mainland. I thought at that time, Since these people are connected, they can be used as pawns."
"That's right." Qi Ning said: "These people are all under Black Tiger Shark. If you use them for your own use and embed them as nails around Black Tiger Shark, you will naturally be able to control Black Tiger Shark's movements."
Shen Liangqiu said: "This is what I thought at that time. Five of them have relatives on land, so the other four naturally do not need to stay, but if the five are put back at the same time, it will be counterproductive."
"If there are more people, the accident will be bigger." Qi Ning agreed deeply. "As long as one person informs you, your plan will completely fail. And everyone's abilities are also different. If there are stupid people among them, Black Tiger Shark will Someone as smart as that would probably see the flaw."
"What the Marquis said is absolutely true. General Bei was worried about exactly the same thing as Lord Hou." Shen Liangqiu looked grim: "So General Bei has been tested, and two of them are not only smart, but also very caring about their relatives on land, so General Bei When executing those pirates, he secretly bribed these two people, promising that as long as they caught the black tiger shark, not only would they be rewarded with gold, but they would also be able to express their merits to the court."
Qi Ning said with a smile: "Even if they don't care about the golden official position, but they have family members in the hands of General Shen, they will try their best to do things for you."
Shen Liangqiu nodded and said: "That's it. The humble general has already secretly controlled the relatives of these two people. They also know very well whether to choose a golden official position or to let their relatives be punished because of them. , these two paths are actually not difficult for them to choose.”
"General Shen, you just said you wanted to capture the Black Tiger Shark and sacrifice it for the Governor. Could it be that... you already know the whereabouts of the Black Tiger Shark through those two spies?" Qining asked softly.
Shen Liangqiu shook his head and said: "Back to the Marquis, I still don't know where the Black Tiger Shark is hiding now. I agreed with the two people on how to contact them, and after letting them leave, I have been waiting for them to send news. Come here, but... Until the time when the Grand Governor committed suicide, he never received any news from them. The general thought that the two people ignored the safety of their loved ones and revealed the secret to Black Tiger Shark, or that Black Tiger Shark might have exposed the loophole. , has long been buried in the sea."
Qi Ning frowned and said: "It may not be impossible. The Black Tiger Shark can gather the bandits at sea, so he is naturally a very skillful and shrewd person. If the two people you arranged make any mistakes, they will probably be discovered. General Shen, those pirates won’t show mercy to traitors, right?”
"What the Marquis said is that no matter who he is, he will not be soft on traitors." Shen Liangqiu said: "In fact, no matter whether those two people were really discovered or confessed to Black Tiger Shark, I have never thought about it. Hurt their relatives." After a pause, he said: "The general thought the plan failed, but... just two days ago, there was news over there...!"
Qi Ning frowned and whispered: "You mean those two spies contacted you?"
Shen Liangqiu nodded and said: "Exactly." After looking around, he took out a small bamboo tube from his arms, carefully pulled out a small paper roll from the bamboo tube, and handed it to Qining, who took it , opened it, the paper was very small, and the words on it were also very small. Fortunately, it was daytime, so I could read it clearly. He glanced at it twice, frowned and said: "Black Tiger Shark... is seriously ill?"